Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
by CaptainCase
Summary: Average teens, Sophie and Heather are summoned to save the Magic Kingdom, learn to become Sorcerers and learn a little bit about themselves on the way. Inspired by the Interactive game at WDW's Magic Kingdom.This thrilling tale includes subtle references of the Disney animated feature the Sword in the Stone and Kingdom Keepers by Ridley Pearson.PLEASE READ & RESPOND
1. Chapter 1

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Disney World, Merlin from the Sword and the Stone, the Magic Kingdom or any of its rides.) **

This was part of an RPG Me and AllieDisneyGirl made, we agreed to post it on fanfiction. Let Us know what you think!

Chapter 1

The Magic Kingdom had just opened for the day. Swarms of happy guests rushed into the park, eager to get to their favorite rides. But not Sophie Kensington. She loved the rides and the characters, but today, she had a more specific plan in mind. She was going to the Main Street firehouse, on a mission to find Wayne, the old man from the _Kingdom Keepers_ series. If you were just looking at Sophie, you wouldn't guess that she was a _Kingdom Keepers_ fan, or even a Disney fan. Her prim button-up shirt, carefully smoothed ponytail, and wire-frame glasses, not to mention her slight British accent and haughty, cool attitude, gave the impression of a semi-snooty super-student. And if you assumed that, you'd be right. Sophie was a practical, rule-following, fact-loving girl... except when it came to Disney. It was her secret pleasure, the only remnant of her childhood love of magic and fantasy. Well, the orphanage-and the mean-spirited teasing of the other children-had quickly scared that out of her. And thank goodness. Such frivolous beliefs were a waste of time and brain space, in Sophie's present opinion. Of course, according to that rule, this current mission was complete foolishness, but Sophie tried to ignore that. She also tried to forget that she was about to break every rule in the Disney book. The firehouse was closed for construction. According to Sophie's research, they were building a new game called "Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom." But that didn't affect Sophie. She wasn't interested in the main part of the building: it was the door that led to an upper-floor apartment that she was after. Praying that no cast members were watching, she quickly ran to the side of the firehouse. Staying in the shadows, she absentmindedly pushed her glasses up her nose, the subtle movement exposing her nerves and breaking her normally-calm demeanor. Then, mustering up her courage, she climbed over a small gate and ran up the metal staircase. Once and for all, she would find out if Wayne truly lived at the top of the firehouse...

Sophie reached the top of the stairs. There it was: the door. She paused, and then quickly reached for the doorknob. But suddenly a voice broke her concentration. "Hey! What are you doing?" Sophie's heart skipped a beat. Did a cast member see her? But no... it was a teenage girl, just around her age.

With her _Kingdom Keepers_ book in hand, Heather walked through the turnstiles of the Magic Kingdom. Her family usually didn't come to the Parks until late afternoon, but Heather always wanted a head start. She was walking through Main Street when she looked at the firehouse. Remembering her book, _The __Kingdom Keepers_, an old Imagineer named Wayne lived there. Heather always was always taught that the impossible was possible. _Maybe there's really a guy in there, _Heather thought, but then shook it off. _Maybe it's just Disney merchandise. _She started to walk again; she knew if she didn't get to Frontierland quickly, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder would be packed. But then she came back, and looked at it again. It. Was. Closed. She went near the Emporium and saw the stairs going up into the second floor of the building, and her eyes led up to the door where a girl about her age was trying to open it.

"Hey! What are you doing?" she asked the girl, with her arms crossed.

"I... I..." Sophie stuttered for a moment, shocked at being discovered. But then she quickly regained her composure. "I'm _trying_ not to be seen by every person in the park, a goal that will quickly be destroyed if you keep yelling at me. If you want to talk to me, come up here and do it. Quietly," she shot back sharply.

"Fine..." Heather walked up the steps as quietly as possible. "What's going on?" she whispered, putting her _Kingdom Keepers_ book in her backpack. "The firehouse is closed."

"Yes, the firehouse STORE is closed, but that doesn't have anything to do with _this_," Sophie replied, gesturing towards the door. "And _this_ is all that I'm interested in." She paused, not sure how much to tell this girl. Could she trust her? Then she spotted the book in the girl's hands: the _KINGDOM KEEPERS_ book. Before she could talk herself out of it, she simply said, "I'm looking for Wayne. And I'm Sophie, by the way."

"Wayne?" Heather whispered. "I'm Heather, and if you're looking for Wayne, I want in." Heather shrugged. "I've always wondered what's in this firehouse."

"Well then, Heather, welcome to the mission," Sophie answered with a slight smile. She looked at Heather, and then looked back at the door. "Well? What are we waiting for? This door isn't going to open itself." Then, taking a deep breath, she grabbed the doorknob. It turned. Sophie gasped; she hadn't really expected it to work. But it did, so before she could talk herself out of it, she opened the door and stepped into the room beyond.

Heather stepped in after her, and the door shut by itself. "Kinda spooky," Heather said with a bit of a southern accent. They walked forward and then turned a corner. There was an old man in front of them: white hair and a long beard, sleeping in a chair.

"Oh my goodness..." Sophie breathed. Old man, white hair... could it really be WAYNE? She stepped closer. "Sir?" she whispered. The old man, fast asleep, didn't reply. She took a step closer. Hang on, this didn't look like Wayne. Wayne didn't have a lengthy white beard, or wear a long robe. "Sir?" she said a little louder. The man woke with a snort. "What? Who... oh, it's you. I was expecting you, Heather and Sophie."

"Wayne?" Sophie asked, doubtful now. Then she realized what he said. "Wait a minute! How did you know our names?"

"I am most certainly not _Wayne_," the old man replied with a stretch. "He moved out years ago. Said that the publicity was too much for him. My name is Merlin. And as for your names... as I said, I was expecting you."

"Why? How?" Heather was confused. "And who are you?"

"Children. Haven't changed since Arthur. Always asking questions, never listening to answers," Merlin humphed. "Like I said, I'm MERLIN."

"Arthur? Merlin?" Sophie muttered to herself. He couldn't mean... no, that was impossible. But he _had_ known their names... Sophie shook her head. No. Either this man was insane, or he was trying to mess with them. Either way, she wasn't going to fall for it. "Sir, you cannot seriously expect me to believe that you are the sorcerer Merlin, from the time of King Arthur. Now, tell me the truth. Who are you? And how did you know my name? What are you, a cast member? Were you spying on me or something?"

Merlin just shook his head. "Disbeliever," he said confidentially to Heather, gesturing towards the increasingly-frustrated Sophie.

"Why were you expecting us?" Heather said while looking around the room. _T__here's probably a video camera somewhere_, she said to herself.

"That is a very good question, Heather O'Dale. And I can answer it with another." He stood up and looked Heather in the eyes. "Now, do you believe in Magic?"

"I believe anything's possible if you really believe in it," Heather said. "Why?"

"Because I need your assistance for a very special mission, and it can only be accomplished by you two very special girls," Merlin replied with a knowing smile.

"But you still haven't told us how you knew we were coming," Sophie pressed. She wasn't buying the whole Merlin thing, but if she was on some sort of cast member watch list, or if this guy was some sort of creeper, she wanted to know. NOW.

"Yes, I did. Magic," Merlin said with a smile. "And magic is also the reason why I need your help."

"Listen, Mr. Whoever-you-are, but I just came here to find Wayne, and he obviously isn't here, so if you'll excuse me..." Sophie started backing towards the door. She grabbed the handle and pulled the door open, but once again, it shut by itself. How did the door do that? Must be electronic, or on wires or something. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but I want to get out of here," she snapped at Merlin as she pulled on the doorknob, which now refused to move.

"Of course. You will be free to go... after you listen to what I have to say. I need your help, and I think you will find that I have quite an interesting tale to share, and perhaps you will learn something about your own destiny in the process."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Merlin took a breath in and started to speak again. "It started months ago. I was taking a small nap when all of the sudden, Hades's minions—Pain and Panic—tried to steal the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom. I kept them from taking it, but it broke into many pieces. The Crystal keeps the Kingdom safe from harm, and if it falls into the wrong hands, someone could take over. Hades has summoned villains to do his bidding and find the Crystals. If they find them, the Magic Kingdom itself could turn into a wasteland! Now..." Merlin fiddled a bit and went to the shelf behind him, taking two books that looked exactly alike off of it. "You two are very special girls. Sophie, you're related to a Sorcerer! Heather, you're from a very magical place, and those qualities will definitely help the both of you here." He handed a book to each of them. "These are spell books. I trust you with them, and I hope you will help me with my quest to save the Magic Kingdom."

"Related to a sorcerer? Ha!" Sophie said with a haughty toss of her head, ignoring the spell book as she pretended that his comment hadn't affected her. It wasn't that she believed him... no, of course not. But it had struck a chord with her. Seeing her discomfort, Merlin nodded, but remained silent. "What?" Sophie sputtered. "You think I actually believe this stuff? No way! Listen mister, it's just a coincidence that I don't know my birth family and that I was raised in an orphanage. That doesn't mean I'm some sort of magical super-freak." Sophie saw the sympathy in Merlin's eyes, and that only made her madder. "Hey, don't look at me like that. It made me stronger. It taught me that books like this one are just full of nonsense," she continued, gesturing towards the book. Sophie started flipping through it, hoping to prove her point. The spells in it seemed almost familiar. But that was impossible. Maybe she had read them somewhere before... "That's it!" she exclaimed as she remembered something. "That Sorcerer's game, the one I read about online. The thing that's being built downstairs. That's all you're talking about, isn't it. What are we, some sort of early tester group?"

Merlin shook his head, frustrated. "Those Imagineers stole the idea. Yes, that's the basis of the game. But it's also true! It's a game to them, but it is very real to me. And it will become very real to the whole park—guests and cast members included—if Hades gets his way."

Suddenly, there was a noise on the stairs outside. "Drat! It's one of those nosy cast members," Merlin exclaimed. "They're always snooting around. But their timing couldn't be worse..."

"What are you talking about this time?" Sophie asked exasperatedly.

"I'm _talking_ about the cast member who is about to open that door and discover us here!" Merlin snapped. "There's no time to waste. I had hoped to explain more to you, but I suppose you'll figure it out for yourselves. Here. Take these." He handed each girl a mirror before continuing in a rush. "Now go. There's a secret exit, via the back. You won't be seen that way. Leave now!" The girls, still holding the books and mirrors, rushed towards the exit. Sophie wanted answers, but more than that, she wanted to get out of there. She ran towards the secret door, but before she exited, she paused and turned around, uncharacteristically uncertain. But the old man was gone. Disappeared. Vanished. Was there another secret door she didn't know about? She didn't have time to consider it. At that moment, she heard the cast member's voice at the door. Quickly, she followed Heather out the secret door, and back down to Main Street.

As soon as Heather and Sophie got out onto Main Street, Heather put the mirror in her backpack. "Well, that wasn't odd," she said sarcastically.

"Odd doesn't begin to describe that," Sophie replied, rolling her eyes. "I mean, what did that guy think we were? Five years old? Unless... I mean... you don't really believe any of that, do you?"

"Nah. Why should we?" Heather laughed. "I mean I'm not from any place _Magical_," she said, making air quotes with her hands. "I'm from a farm in Marceline, Missouri."

"Yeah. And I'm certainly not related to any sorcerer," Sophie replied with a tight smile. "Actually, technically, I don't know _who_ I'm related to, but it cannot be a fictional character. That's probably the only relative I can rule out for sure."

Heather laughed. "Well, _at least_ it was nice to meet another Kingdom Keepers fan!"

"Yes. Yes, it was," Sophie said, looking away with an odd look on her face. She was silent for a minute, until she realized that she seemed completely unfriendly. "Look. I don't mean to be rude. But being a Kingdom Keepers fan, that's sort of my little secret. Back at the orphanage, I got teased for liking fantasy stories like that. I was teased a lot for it, actually. It opened my eyes to the truth, so I'm grateful for it. I don't read those kind of books anymore... except for that series. I don't know what I was thinking. Fantasy books... they're all nonsense. Ridiculous. People who believe in that sort of thing... well, I suppose some people will believe anything."

"I believe in that stuff," Heather said immediately. "I believe anything's possible if you put your mind to it! Without fantasy, nothing would be moving forward today! Believing in things you don't see, I think, is... important. And definitely _NOT_ ridiculous." Heather crossed her arms, starting to get mad.

"Let me correct you. Nothing would be moving forward without _fact and science_, which are the complete OPPOSITE of frivolous fancies like magic and make-believe. That stuff is just for little kids who don't know better. And, apparently, people like _you_," Sophie said coldly.

"Yes, yes it is. _People like me,_ who will do great things by thinking outside the box, _unlike ya'll_. Because your _Fancy Smart Science_ gets in the way to every other possibility." Heather was getting madder, and when she got madder, her southern accent usually became stronger and her grammar became worse.

"Fancy smart science? What do you... I mean, how can you... Don't you..." Sophie was getting angry now, and her usual calm demeanor was all but gone. She couldn't even form a coherent sentence... _definitely_ not a good sign. This was not going well. Who was this girl to talk to her that way? Sophie didn't have to stand for this. In fact, she didn't have to talk to this girl at all. In a tense voice, she continued. "Fine. We'll have to agree to disagree. I have my opinion and you have yours, even though yours is _completely_ and _totally_ wrong. Not that I would expect you to understand, seeing as logic clearly isn't your forte." With that, Sophie turned and walked away, her head held high.

"Yers is worse! Ya'll _p__aid_ to go the _**Magic**_ Kingdom!" Heather yelled back at her. And with that, she headed toward the Emporium. She needed something even _bigger_ to hold this mirror.

Heather had been home from her Disney trip for about a week. She had been avoiding unpacking, but today, she just wanted to get it over with. She put all her souvenirs and clothes back where they should have been, and then lastly, put her new mirror up in place. She was kind of glad that cast member gave it to her, considering her old one broke. _That's probably what happens when you let the goat in the house; they break stuff_, she thought.

When Heather put her mirror on the wall, she couldn't help but feel that there was something... odd about it. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something wasn't right.

She got out her "spell book," and when she opened it, there was a page bookmarked with a card. It had a picture of a key with the inscription _**MSK.**_ Fiddling with the card in her hand, she walked over to the mirror.

Sophie was sitting at her bedroom desk, doing her homework before going to bed. Or, more appropriately, _trying_ to do her homework. It wasn't that the work itself was difficult-Sophie found her schoolwork easy at its best, mildly challenging at its worst-but she just couldn't focus. Her eyes kept shifting to her bed, and the mirror and book that she knew were stashed underneath it. When she had gotten back from the Magic Kingdom after that episode with the old man, her parents had been curious about her odd new souvenirs, but she had blown off their questions. As soon as she had gotten home, she had hidden them under her bed. Hidden them from her parents' prying eyes; hidden them from herself. Out of sight, out of mind... she hoped. But it hadn't worked. Sophie felt a strange curiosity about the gifts from the old man. It was like she was drawn to them, as if it was out of her control. Being out of control was _not_ a feeling that Sophie liked. But Sophie was stubborn, and she wasn't about to give in to a crazy, illogical whim about some crazy, illogical story that was told to her by a crazy, illogical old man.

Sophie kept trying to do her homework, but finally, she slammed her book down. "Fine! I give up," she groaned to the empty room. "I'll look at the stupid gifts. Not because he wanted me to, and not because I believe it. Just because I want to prove that this whole thing is silly." She walked over to her bed and pulled out the book and mirror, which were now covered by a fine layer of dust. Plopping down into a cross-legged position, she began flipping through the book. "Nothing here but a bunch of rhymes. Like a kindergarten book," she said, trying to reassure herself. But if that was true, why did the rhymes echo inside her mind, tugging at her imagination and bringing up the feeling of an old memory long forgotten? "No. It's just foolishness," she whispered. She kept flipping through the pages until she found one that was bookmarked by a little card, the size of a credit card, with a picture of a key. She read the poem on the page, her lips moving along to the words. _Put the key to the mirror, Make the portal reappear. Touch the key to the glass, Let the magic come to pass._ "Nonsense. Total nonsense," she exclaimed, slamming the book shut and dropping it to the ground. But she found herself staring at the mirror, the hint of a question in her mind. What if... "No. No, no, no. This is silly. Foolish, impossible fantasies. All of it! Fine, Sophie. You need proof? Let's prove it," she ranted to herself. She picked up the mirror and balanced it on her desk, then gazed at her reflection in it. "Ridiculous," she said as she touched the little card to the glass.

Suddenly, the room went black. Sophie felt as if she was falling into nothingness. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear anything but the rushing of wind in her ears, and she couldn't feel the floor under her feet. What was happening? What was going on? This was impossible! Sophie tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth. Then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Sophie found herself standing in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. It was night, and the park was empty. Except for one other girl, deeply engrossed in a magic book that was identical to the one that Sophie had been looking at moments before. It was Heather.

Heather was reciting spells to herself, walking around what she thought was her room. She felt the floor texture start to change, and she looked down and then up. She was in the Magic Kingdom. Heather's eyes got wide, and then she turned to see the one person she really didn't want to see. It was the science girl from that day at the Magic Kingdom. Sophie.

"Can science explain this?" Heather said, trying to prove a point.

Sophie was silent. To be honest, she _couldn't_ explain this. Nothing could explain this. Nothing except... but she wouldn't admit that, not even to herself. And she certainly wasn't going to give Heather the satisfaction of hearing her admit it out loud. So, she ignored the question. In fact, she tried to ignore Heather all together. She paced in a circle, trying to figure out what had just happened. She was at home... now she was in the Magic Kingdom. She touched the key to the mirror, like it said in the book, and _now she was in the Magic Kingdom_. Where was the logical answer to that? "Oh, I'm dreaming!" Sophie exclaimed aloud. "I must have hit my head on that mirror, passed out, and now I'm laying unconscious in my bedroom. This is all a hallucination, or a dream, or something. It's not _real_!" she said with a sigh of relief.

"Right..." Heather said, doubtful, while rolling her eyes. "We need to figure out how to get back, and I'm hoping buying airplane tickets isn't the answer." Then Heather heard a noise behind them and immediately jumped. "What was that?" she whispered.

"Nothing. Because none of this is real. It's just a dream, remember?" Sophie replied, faking optimism. If this wasn't real—which would be impossible—a dream was the only other option. But if Sophie was being honest with herself, she had to admit that this was more realistic than any dream she'd ever had.

The noise grew louder as the thing got closer, and Sophie began to get nervous. "Maybe we should get out of here..." Sophie whispered to Heather. But before Heather could reply, the bushes behind them rustled and the creature responsible for the noise appeared. Two creatures, actually. One red and one blue, and they looked like some sort of demons. Heather had been right: science and logic... well, they weren't going to explain any of this. After a moment, Sophie recognized them. "Pain and Panic? From Hercules?" she exclaimed. "But they're just make-believe! They aren't real!"

"Hey, who are you calling make-believe?" one of them exclaimed back. "And who are you? The boss told us that the park should be empty at this time of night!"

"Well, I'm Heather O'Dale." Heather pointed to the other girl. "And she's Sophie."

"Heather?" Panic said to Pain.

"Sophie?" Pain said to Panic.

Panic started to shake, and whispered to Pain, "Hades won't like this!"

When Heather heard that, she realized something. "Wait! Ya'll are Hades' little minions, right?"

"Riiiiiight..." Pain replied, looking around nervously. Then he leaned over to Panic and the two of them started whispering. Sophie looked over at Heather. Something was up, and she didn't like it. "Can you please tell us what is going on?" she asked Pain and Panic pointedly. It seemed ridiculous to have a conversation with creatures who were most likely figments of her imagination, but at this point, she didn't see a better option. The two demons didn't answer her. Instead, they simultaneously morphed into snakes and began slithering towards the girls, their venomous fangs bared. "This can't be good," Sophie yelped.

Heather rolled her eyes. "We have snakes all over the farm!" She started rolling up her sleeves. "I'll show you how we do this in Missouri!" The two snakes started to look scared, but then smiled at each other. Just when she had a hold on both of them, they started to turn into the thing that Heather feared the most. Mice.

"Ahhh!" Heather screamed in fear and raced behind Sophie. Heather started to shake; she could handle **anything** but _those_.

"Mice? You're afraid of _mice_?" Sophie exclaimed, rolling her eyes. She walked over to Pain and Panic and leaned down, until she was almost at their eye level. "What on earth could a pair of little mice do to us?" She reached down, planning to grab the mice, but as soon as she got her hands on them, they started morphing into snakes again. "AH!" she yelped, dropping the pair like hot potatoes. As soon as they hit the ground, they turned into mice again. "So what do we do now?" Sophie asked Heather nervously.

Heather thought for a second. Then, she realized she still had the book in her hand. "Wanna try a spell?" Heather handed the book to Sophie; her hand was shaking so badly from the fear of mice that she almost dropped it.

"Oh, come on. You can't seriously believe... no. No way! You're the one who loves magic so much; you do it," Sophie complained. But then she realized just how scared Heather was. The poor girl was shaking. She was terrified of those two little mice-demon-things; there was no way that she could do _anything_. It was up to Sophie. And although Sophie felt pretty sure that the spell book was full of nonsense, someone had to do _something_ before Pain and Panic did something worse. Besides, after being transported to the Magic Kingdom and being attacked by Hades' minions, Sophie was finding it hard to doubt anything. "Fine. Not that it's going to work," Sophie grumbled as she snatched the book out of Heather's hands.

"Uh oh, the boss isn't going to like this. Get her!" Pain shouted as he leapt towards Sophie. In a panic, Sophie flipped the book open and shouted the first spell she saw: a spell illustrated with a picture of Merlin. _"If sorcery you would acquire, don't get too close to balls of fire!"_ Nothing happened. Sophie turned to Heather. "See? I told you..." Suddenly, two fireballs materialized in the air and shot towards Pain and Panic.

"Ahhhhh!" Pain and Panic screamed in unison as they fell to the ground, leaving enough time for Heather and Sophie to escape. By the time that Pain and Panic got up, the girls were gone.

"Oh no! What's Hades going to do to us when he finds out? We're dead!" Panic started shaking in fear.

"You mean_ if_ he finds out."

"_**IF**_... _If_ is good," Panic said, as he and Pain started to walk around the park again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

"Whoa. That was... I don't know what that was," Sophie whispered to Heather as they ran away. "That was impossible, that's what that was," she continued, answering her own question. "Whatever it was, I think we need more information. Because this doesn't seem so fake anymore. I think we need to find that cast member, the guy who gave us the spell books."

"Then let's head to the firehouse; he may still be there." Heather thought for a second. "But _don't_ mention the mouse deal."

"What? Are you embarrassed because you were scared stiff of a couple of itsy-bitsy mice?" Sophie replied with a slight smile. "Oh, I'm just kidding. Don't worry, I won't tell him about your little secret. Come on, let's go."

The girls raced down Main Street to the firehouse. They climbed up the stairs and Heather knocked on the door like she was crazy. She wanted to get inside the firehouse; if Pain and Panic were that much trouble, she couldn't imagine what they'd do if there was anyone else.

The door swung open, and there he was: the old man who had started all of this trouble. Sophie wasn't sure if she felt relieved to see him, or completely irritated that he had involved her in this mess in the first place. "Ah. It's you. Right on time, too," he said calmly.

"How did you... oh, never mind," Sophie exclaimed exasperatedly. "Can you just tell us what the heck is going on here?"

"I told you the last time you were here! There's trouble brewing in the Park!" Merlin said. Then he mumbled, "Like I said before, always asking questions, never listening to answers."

"Yes, I KNOW what you said before, but you didn't mention that we would get sucked into the park at night and attacked by evil characters!" Sophie shouted.

"Oh yes, I did forget to mention that, didn't I? Well, like I said, I was a bit rushed at the end of our meeting," Merlin replied nonchalantly. "Besides, would you have believed me if I told you?" Sophie didn't have an answer to that.

"So... evil villains are trying to take over the Park. How can we help?" Heather knew that Sophie thought this was insane, but she wanted to help.

"You two will do more than help-you are destined to save the Magic Kingdom from these villains!" Merlin said grandly, waving his arms dramatically. "You will become heroes here... if you are willing to try," he said with a sideways look at Sophie.

"Fine, you win. I'll help," Sophie said, shrugging her shoulders and trying to look annoyed about it. But inside, she was freaking out. This was too real to be a dream. This was _actually happening_: magic books, transporting mirrors, Merlin, Disney characters... they were all _real_. And Sophie didn't know how she felt about that.

Merlin smiled. "Don't worry, you'll soon move beyond the doubt and fear that you are feeling. It's only natural, considering your past. You'll learn to accept things soon enough."

"How did you..." Sophie gasped. It was if he read her mind.

"Magic, remember?" Merlin replied with another smile. "Now, down to business. As you two already discovered, those mirrors that I gave you aren't just ordinary mirrors. They are _magic_ mirrors. Heather, yours once belonged to the Evil Queen from _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_. Don't worry, I've disenchanted it... mostly. Sophie, yours belonged to the Beast from _Beauty and the Beast_. The cards open the magic of the mirrors. If you hold the key to the mirror and recite the spell, it will transport you to the Magic Kingdom."

"The spells are real too," Sophie whispered to herself.

"Of course. Your spell books are full of powerful spells. Each one brings on the powers of a specific Disney character. Those Imagineers stole them, too. Soon guests will be using spell cards with these very same spells in that game they're building downstairs. I might have... errr... lost a copy of my spell book and they found it. Luckily, they don't have the powers to use them. Not like you girls. We'll meet at night, here in the Magic Kingdom, and I'll teach you how to use them. You got lucky back there with Pain and Panic. You really need more training before you face another villain. We'll start with the easier spells... Toy Spells and whatnot. We'll save the most difficult spells, like my fireball spell, for later. You need to be an expert before you wield that kind of powerful magic."

"Wait. Your fireball spell?" Sophie gasped. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. "You need to be an _expert_ to do that spell?"

"Yes," Merlin replied with a nod. "Of course, beginners might try such a spell, but it would never work."

"But that's the spell I used with Pain and Panic," Sophie said in a barely-audible whisper.

Merlin looked at her. For the first time, he actually looked surprised. But then his face softened into a gentle smile. "My dear, I told you that you were special, did I not? This proves it."

"But how am I special? I couldn't do any of that!" Heather spoke up. "Why am I even here?"

"Now, Heather! This place is very special to you," Merlin said as he started going through his bookshelf again. "Now where are you from?"

"Marceline, Missouri, on some farm... Why?"

"Not just any farm! And it's not just any city either!" Merlin got out his book; it was about Walt Disney. "Walt Disney was raised on the same farm that you're living on now. And Main Street was designed to resemble your city back in the 1900's!"

"That's... crazy," Heather replied, in awe.

"I think you may have taken in some powers from the farm. Creativity, possibly? We'll find out..." Merlin said, putting the book back.

Sophie leaned against the wall in stunned silence, still shocked by Merlin's revelation, as he talked with Heather. When Merlin had first told her that she was related to a sorcerer, Sophie couldn't—wouldn't—believe it. She didn't believe anything he told her, for that matter. It all sounded like nonsense. It _still_ sounded like nonsense, but she had seen it with her own eyes. It had to be true. Suddenly a thought occurred to Sophie. "If I'm special because I'm related to a sorcerer, which sorcerer am I related to?" she asked. Merlin blew off the question as if it made him nervous. Then he looked at his watch. "My, my, look at the time. You two girls had better be getting back home. You've been through enough for one night; your training can start tomorrow."

"But how exactly do we get home? We don't have our mirrors with us," Sophie replied, concerned.

"Don't you think I planned for that?" Merlin answered with a smile. "The WDW Railroad poster in the tunnel at the beginning of Main Street serves as a portal as well. A magical form of transportation hidden in a poster for another form of transportation... rather clever if I do say so myself. Just touch your key to the poster and say the spell, and presto! You'll be back in your rooms." Sophie opened her mouth to ask another question, but Merlin held up his hand for silence. "There'll be plenty of time for questions on another day. Now you have to get out of here, before Pain and Panic come back with reinforcements." Without giving them any time to speak, he opened the door and herded them out. "See you tomorrow night!" he called as the girls climbed down the ladder and headed for the tunnel.

The girls walked down Main Street, towards the tunnel. At first, they went to the wrong tunnel, but they finally found the poster in the other. Heather got her key out of her pocket, and the girls left the Magic Kingdom.

When Heather was transported back, she put her book away with her card. She looked at the clock; time had passed since she left. Then she went to bed and tried to get what was left of a night's sleep.

After Heather touched the key to the poster, Sophie found herself back in her bedroom. "Did that really just happen?" she whispered into the empty room. She sat down on her bed. There wasn't really any physical proof that the crazy things she had experienced weren't all a dream, a hallucination... _something _logical. But she couldn't bring herself to doubt it anymore. Somehow, it _felt_ true. "Well, if all of that is real, then I'd better get prepared," Sophie said to herself. She sat down on bed and picked up the magic book. "Time to study," she said with a slight smile.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The next night, Heather took her key card out of her book and flashed it at the mirror. After being transported, she headed onto Main Street and then to the firehouse. Up the stairs and through the door, until she came face to face with Merlin. Sophie was already there, as if the mirror had given her a shortcut to the firehouse. "Welcome to your first day of training!" Merlin said to both of them.

"I see you had to walk up the stairs the old-fashioned way," Sophie said with a smirk. "I sent myself here directly. Probably because I actually _studied_. I'm guessing that's not exactly your area of expertise."

Merlin looked at her sternly. "Sophie, your magic is more advanced because of who you are, not how much you study. I thought you had moved past your spat with Heather."

"I moved past my feelings about you, and I'm working on my feelings about magic and all that. Not her," Sophie said coldly. In the heat of battle, she had been able to forget her conflict with Heather, but now that everything was okay, she was back to being upset.

"And why exactly are you mad at her? Because if I remember right, _you_ were the one who held the incorrect belief about magic," Merlin said knowingly.

"How did you... you weren't even there! Oh, never mind," Sophie grumbled. She knew that Merlin had a point. She had snapped at Heather because the whole magic thing had freaked her out, not because Heather had done anything wrong. "Fine," she conceded. Then she turned to Heather. Apologies weren't Sophie's strength, but it needed to be done. Taking a deep breath, she forced the words out. "I'm not going to say that you were totally right, but well... you were kind of right. And it seems like we're going to be working together, whether we like it or not. So... I'm sorry. Let's start over."

"Sounds good," Heather replied.

"Well, now that that's settled... Let's start training!" Merlin said.

"Here?" Sophie asked.

"Oh, heavens no. This is my house! Do you think I want you to trash it? You two are just beginning. Your spells might get a bit... umm... messy, to say the least," Merlin said with a grimace.

"So are we going outside? To Town Square?" Sophie asked.

"Do you WANT to get captured by the villains?" Merlin asked irritatedly. "You've got to think more than that. The three of us can't go gallivanting around in the open. Especially once you start using magic. No, we have to go somewhere safe, somewhere hidden... and I have just the place in mind. Follow me. Quietly."

Sophie and Heather followed Merlin out of the firehouse, down Main Street, and into Frontierland. Sophie couldn't help but notice that he was sticking to the shadows; he obviously didn't want to be seen. Soon, they found themselves at the docks near Tom Sawyer's Island, where Merlin stopped. "Here we are! Now we just have to cross," he said as he walked right past the raft.

"Umm... you just passed the raft," Sophie said, feeling stupid for stating the obvious.

"Of course I did. I don't want every character in the park to see me! No, we're going to do it the sneaky way. Step to the edge of the pier now, both of you. Hold still." Then Merlin began to mumble under his breath.

"What are you going to doooooo..." Sophie's voice trailed off as the world suddenly grew very large... and very wet. She found herself in the moat around Tom Sawyer's Island... _and she was a fish_.

Heather looked down at herself. "I AIN'T GOT NO LEGS!" she screamed in panic. The she looked at Sophie and Merlin. They were fish too! "What's going on?"

"Well, I didn't want everyone seeing us go over there. So I turned us into fish to swim over," Merlin answered.

"WHAT?" Heather said.

"For a short time of course," he said, "Until we get to the island."

Heather started to calm down a bit, and swam around. "This is sort of cool." She did a flip in the water. "That was awesome!" Then she realized that Merlin and Sophie were already far ahead, and she started to swim faster to catch up. They soon reached the water's edge of Tom Sawyer's Island.

Sophie swam ahead as Heather did fish-tricks in the water. She huffed disapprovingly, sending a tiny stream of bubbles out of her mouth. Merlin looked at her and laughed. "Sophie my dear, you have to learn to go with the flow!"

"The flow of the water? But there's hardly a current," Sophie answered matter-of-factly. Merlin just laughed and did a flip of his own. Before she could say anything else, Heather caught up with them, and Sophie went silent.

Soon they reached the edge of the water. "Hold your breath, girls. Prepare yourself!" Merlin said before he started muttering again. Sophie found herself swirling around quickly, like she was in a mini-tornado of water. Then she was a human again. Resisting the urge to gasp, which would have meant swallowing a massive quantity of water, she paddled to the shore.

The three of them climbed out of the water and onto Tom Sawyer's Island. Sophie shivered. Whether it was from the cold, the wet, or her worries, she couldn't tell. Merlin noticed and said another spell. Suddenly the three of them were completely dry. "There we are," Merlin said with a satisfied smile. "Now follow me." Sophie and Heather followed him to the fort in the middle of the island. With its tall walls and isolated location, it was the perfect place for training.

"I hope you all have studied your spells..." Merlin said while looking at Heather. She never really studied. Just then Merlin whispered something and turned into a large beast. Heather couldn't really tell what it was; it was a mix of many things. It was very big, but not big enough that you could see it if you weren't on the island. It looked very ferocious, too.

"Now, cast a spell!" the Merlin-Monster said, trying to look menacing.

Sophie looked over at Heather. "Well, go ahead. You're the magic lover, aren't you?" But Heather shook her head nervously. Obviously, she _hadn't_ been practicing. "Fine then. I guess it's me then, isn't it?" Sophie said, rolling her eyes. "At least one of us has memorized some of the spells already." She turned towards the Merlin-Monster and muttered Rapunzel's Hair Whip spell under her breath. "_This is how a girl expresses, her emotions through her tresses._" She looked at Merlin expectantly as a sparkle appeared in the air, but instead of producing a mighty weapon of hair, the only effect was that her own hair puffed out into a mass of static electricity. "See? I knew this couldn't be right. Nothing happened," she complained.

"Sophie, you may have the innate talent, but you don't have the belief to power it. Try again, and this time, try to be convincing," the Merlin-Monster replied. When Sophie didn't do anything, he sighed. "Aren't I frightening at all? If I were attacking you... hmmm..." Sophie didn't like the look on his face. "What are you thinking about... Hey!" she squealed as the Merlin-Monster charged. She said the spell again, more loudly and firmly. Her hair magically turned blond and lengthened into a massive whip, which quickly lassoed the Merlin-Monster. "Much better," he said in a strangled, satisfied voice. Then he turned back into himself and the hair disappeared.

"I can do spell stuff, too!" Heather said. She quickly looked at a spell from the spell book. Hercules' Tower Topple—a Warrior Spell.

"_This display of awesome power, sure will topple any tower!_" she said. At first, nothing happened. Then she heard a squeak. A side of the fort wall was toppling down, almost on top of her! Just in time, Merlin muttered something and stopped it, restoring the wall back into place.

"And that is why we're here to practice! Now Heather, I want you to try an easier spell... Say, a Toy Spell? Machine, maybe? Or even an Animal Spell!"

"_There in no uncertain terms, are technicolor pachyderms!_" she tried again. Then, from the sky, an army of Dumbo's pink elephants swarmed Merlin, who made them evaporate.

"Much better," he said, pushing up his glasses.

The girls kept practicing their spells, battering Merlin with one spell after another. But more often than not, the spells backfired, and Merlin had to quickly counteract them to prevent disaster. After a half hour, Merlin was exhausted. "My old bones haven't moved like that in centuries!" he said, sitting down with a groan. "That's more than enough for one night."

"But we still have so much to learn!" Sophie said, trying to hide the excitement she was feeling.

"Young folks... always in a rush. Surely you didn't think that you'd learn everything in one day? Why, it takes centuries to master it all! That's why you'll be coming back. Every night, same time, same place. I'll turn you into proper sorcerers, you can count on that. But it's going to take time. And practice. And studying," he said with a sharp glance at Heather. "But that's all for another night. Now it's time for you girls to head home. Get some sleep. We can't have your parents wondering why you two are exhausted, now can we?" Neither Heather nor Sophie could argue with that, so the two of them headed for the water's edge. "Where are you girls going?" Merlin asked.

"Back. Like you told us," Sophie replied, confused.

"I don't know about you girls, but I'm much too tired for swimming. We'll just take the short cut. There's a portal here on the island. You two can go home that way, and then I'll just zap myself back to the firehouse."

"Why didn't we use that in the first place? It could have saved us time... and wetness," Sophie exclaimed.

"Why are you young folks always in a rush?" Merlin groused. Sometimes, he sounded more like a crotchety old grandfather than a powerful wizard. Most of the time, actually. "Sometimes, you get the value in the journey, not the destination," he continued wisely. He showed the girls the portal, which was hidden in one of the caves, before disappearing into thin air. Sophie used her key card, and the girls headed home.

Heather raced outside the cave on Tom Sawyer's Island to the fort. She and Sophie had been practicing with Merlin for a couple weeks. They still needed more experience, but they were getting better and better. Heather had mastered all the Toy Spells, and knew how to do a bit of Machine and Animal Spells, as well as two or three Warrior Spells. Sophie, on the other hand, had been going from better to great. On most spells, she got it perfectly on the second or third time. This always made Heather frustrated. Sophie could do the Fireball spell without even trying, and Heather still couldn't do it!

When she got to the fort, she was welcomed by Merlin and Sophie. "Welcome, Sorcerer!" exclaimed Merlin.

"Sorry! I still can't control where my portal shows up!"

"No trouble. You and Sophie are here now!" Merlin said. His face started to became serious as he said, "We are going to move up your training to Mystic Spells. I understand they are the hardest, and you still need to learn other spells. But... Trouble is rising in the Park."

"Trouble? What kind of trouble? Did something happen with the villains?" Sophie asked worriedly. Merlin had taught her a lot over the past few weeks, and she had grown to think of him as a friend... or at least a crazy old uncle. But he still refused to answer some of her questions, like when she asked about the sorcerer to whom she was supposedly related. Unfortunately, this newest question apparently fell under the Merlin-refuses-to-answer-this category.

"It's time to teach you the hardest spells," he repeated, avoiding her question completely.

"Oh, harder spells? Bring them on. Piece of cake," Sophie answered confidently. Over the weeks of training, she had occasionally stumbled, but she hadn't yet failed. Not once. Her only obstacle was her weak belief, and she had almost entirely overcome that by now, too. It wasn't that Sophie _really_ believed in everything that was going on, but by now, she had enough proof to know that it was foolish to doubt it.

"We'll see about that," Merlin replied mysteriously."I have a feeling that young Heather might have a slight advantage in this category."

"Now... let's start with something easy... do either of you know the words for any Mystic Spells?" Merlin said. "How about you, Heather? Try one!"

"Uh... I might..." Heather said worriedly. Whenever she did a spell the first time, the outcome was awful. There was a Buzz Lightyear Laser incident with Toy Spells… she couldn't imagine what might happen if she messed up a Mystic Spell!

"Try one!"

"Um... Okay..." Heather started to concentrate. "_A wizard you shall be anointed, with a hat that's nice and pointed!_" At first nothing happened. Then out of the sky, Yensid's Sorcerer hat glided down to them, trying to slice Merlin. He ducked, and it floated to Heather and slowly appeared on her head. "Cool!" Heather said.

"Well done, Heather!" Merlin exclaimed.

"Yeah, nice job," Sophie said, mildly irritated. She liked Heather, but she didn't like to be shown up. "_My turn now! A wizard you shall be anointed, with a hat that's nice and pointed._" She said it confidently, almost cockily. If Merlin thought Heather did a good job, wait until he saw what she could do! But... nothing happened. Sophie tried it again, then a third time. But nothing happened at all. "I... I think the spell is a dud," Sophie said irritatedly.

"It worked for Heather," Merlin pointed out.

"But it didn't work for ME! And _I'm_ the talented sorcerer! _I'm_ the one who spends hours and hours studying!" Sophie exclaimed, pouting.

"Yes, but you _aren't_ the one who lives on the site of Walt Disney's former home," Merlin said calmly.

"What?" Heather said excitedly. "Seriously?"

"Yes, I'm quite serious, Heather."

"That's awesome!" Heather was starting to get excited. She wasn't usually good at spells.

"Now let's try something different. Since we are on a Fantasia theme, why don't you try Apprentice Mickey's Broomsticks spell?" Merlin said before turning into a beastly monster. He'd been doing it for weeks, so at this point Heather was used to it. "Heather, it's your turn, I believe."

She closed her eyes and said, "_Without a touch of human hands, they're marching to their own command!_" It took a while, but soon, twenty broomsticks came into the fort and surrounded Merlin. Some were trapping him, while others were throwing water at him with buckets. Heather couldn't believe she did that.

"Alright! Alright! That's quite enough!" Merlin said, waving his hands and coughing, transforming back into himself as the brooms disappeared. "Very good!"

"Thanks! I don't even know how I could do that!"

"We all have our strengths and weaknesses," Merlin said, turning into a beast again. "Your turn, Sophie!"

"Okay," Sophie muttered, still sulking. "_Without a touch of human hands, they're marching to their own command._" At first nothing happened, but then there was a sparkle. "See? I knew..." Sophie started to exclaim, but her voice trailed off as she started marching in circles uncontrollably. "Turn it off! Turn it off!" she yelped. Merlin waved his hand, and she stopped marching so suddenly that she fell to the ground in a heap. She stayed there, embarrassed and disappointed in herself. Merlin came over to her and extended his hand, helping her up. "Not everyone is perfect at everything the first time, Sophie. With some work, you'll learn these spells, too. I just hope we'll have time to work on them," he added in a whisper.

"What?" Sophie asked. Her quick ears had caught his mutter, and it concerned her.

"Nothing, oh, nothing at all," Merlin quickly replied, trying to hide the worry in his voice.

They practiced a bit later than usual, by a couple hours. Heather was a natural at Mystic Spells, bringing up Hats, Brooms, and Rafiki's stick, and conjuring up destructive Mad Tea Parties with ease. But she still couldn't summon Merlin's fire blasts like Sophie. Sophie was getting better at the other Mystic Spells, too. She could do them partially, but not extremely well… not like Heather. At the end of the training session, Heather went to the cave happy. For once she was good at spells. _Maybe I am meant to be a sorcerer after all,_ she thought as she smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Sophie went home and practiced extra-hard that night, trying to improve her Mystic Spells. The next day, she went through the portal a little bit early, hoping to get in a bit of extra practice time with Merlin. But he wasn't at Tom Sawyer's Island. She and Heather crossed the river and checked at the firehouse, but Merlin wasn't there either. This wasn't right; Merlin was always waiting for them. ALWAYS. "Maybe we're too early. Maybe he'll show up any minute," Sophie hoped aloud.

"Something's not right..." Heather said. "Something's wrong, I can feel it." Heather continued worriedly. Then, out of the blue, an electric-like portal, showing a video-like message from Merlin, appeared in front of the girls, startling Heather a bit.

"Good evening, Sorcerers!" Merlin said. He seemed to be in a 1900's suit, somewhere with a nostalgic feel. Main Street maybe? "I seem to be in a bit of a pickle right now! It involves Cruella DeVil!" It looked like he was casting spells every few seconds, and having trouble. "Luckily, if you go to Tony's Town Square Restaurant, you'll find Pongo and Perdita. They're staying with Lady and Tramp. They can give you more information." Then, the portal disappeared before their eyes.

"What the... what was... did you see that?" Sophie asked, stunned. A few months ago, she wouldn't have believed it. But now, Sophie had a hard time disbelieving anything, especially where Merlin was involved. Quickly, her brain snapped from doubt-mode to panic-mode. "Merlin's in trouble! But what can we do? We're hardly even trained yet..." Then she took a deep breath, and settled into her normal state of controlled logic. "Well, at least he gave us a clue," she continued, answering her own question. "We have to go to Tony's, and then we'll figure out what to do from there."

"Calm down!" Heather said, trying to stay calm herself. "Let's hurry. We don't know how much time we have!"

They headed across the street to Tony's restaurant and knocked on the door, frantically and in panic. The Magic Kingdom at night seemed even more eerie with villains around and Merlin in trouble.

The door to Tony's opened just a crack, and four wet noses appeared, sniffing furiously. A built-in doggy security system. When the sniffing noses were satisfied that the girls weren't a threat, the door opened and Heather and Sophie walked inside. Lady and the Tramp, as well as Pongo and Perdita, were standing in front of them. It took a second for Sophie to adjust to seeing these characters: not animated, but living and breathing dogs. But there was no doubt about their identities… especially once they started talking. In English. "You must be Sophie and Heather," Perdita said kindly. "Merlin told us all about you."

"Hi." It was all Heather could get out. She was stunned. Talking Disney Dogs. Real dogs. She shook it off and said, "Merlin told us you could tell us some information. Something's wrong here on Main Street, and he sort of mentioned Cruella DeVil."

The dogs looked nervous. "Cruella is looking for a part of the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom," Pongo said.

"For Hades," Perdita added.

Sophie stared for a moment, still acclimating to the talking dogs in front of her. "Umm, yes. Merlin told us about that. But do you know where we can find her? Or why Merlin has disappeared?"

"Disappeared? What do you mean?" Pongo asked worriedly.

"He's gone. He wasn't here when we arrived. But he left us a... video, or portal, or something. A message. He said something came up with Cruella. It looked like he was in trouble. And he said that you could help us," Sophie explained.

Perdita exchanged a look with Pongo. She looked worried, and they whispered together for a moment. Then she turned back to Sophie and Heather. "Of course we'll help you," she finally answered.

"The last time we saw him, he said he was going after Cruella DeVil," Pongo said sadly. "We were near Crystal Palace on a stroll. Merlin was hiding in the bushes, wand ready, and told us to go into hiding immediately."

"I hope Merlin is alright!" Lady said.

"I agree. It's not easy trying to stop Cruella with Horace and Jasper on the loose," Perdita said.

"Thanks for the tip!" Heather said. "It looks like we need to go over there and try to find him..."

"What about Cruella? Do you two think you can handle them? Or even Horace and Jasper!" Perdita asked.

"Of course they can, Perdita! They're Sorcerers! If anyone in the Magic Kingdom can help Merlin, it's them!" Pongo said.

"Sure!" Heather replied, unsure and scared.

Sophie wanted to protest to being called a sorcerer. She wanted to roll her eyes at the concept of having issues with a couple of fictional villains. But she knew better now. "Yeah, of course," Sophie replied, not wanting to be outdone by Heather. "It's not like Cruella and her cronies have magic powers or anything. She's just a fur-crazy, conceited nutcase. Nothing we can't handle."

"Don't underestimate her," Perdita warned her. "She might not be as powerful as Merlin, or as you, but she's twice as wily. And she's not afraid to play dirty. Our humans underestimated her once, just as you did, and our pups nearly paid for it with their lives."

"Okay, thanks for the warning," Sophie replied hurriedly, not really paying attention anymore, "But we really have to get going. To the Crystal Palace, like you said." She began pulling Heather towards the door.

"Let's roll!" Heather said, walking with Sophie out the door.

By the time they were in the middle of Main Street, Heather was shaking like she did with Pain and Panic on their first night there.

"Sophie... Do you think we can really face the villains... and win?" Heather said. She was worried; she may have done spells on Merlin during practice, but not on anyone else. She wondered if she even could.

"With my spell-casting skills and your... whatever you have...? Of course!" Sophie replied coolly. "Where'd that come from? You were Little Miss Confidence a minute ago," Sophie added a bit meanly. Then she paused for a minute. They were in this together now. This wasn't the time for attitude. Sophie took a deep breath. She didn't normally like to confide in people, but now... Heather deserved the truth. "I'm sorry. It's just that all of this... it's crazy. Honestly, I don't know anything. I don't even know how this is happening, or how it's remotely possible that we're going on a mission to defeat fictional Disney villains with magic spells to save a character from the King Arthur legends."

"Pretty crazy," Heather said. "I mean, I'm not confident with this stuff. I just believe it's going to be trouble. Like it's _supposed_ to bother me. Think about it Sophie..." Heather thought for a second, finding the right words to say. "What if the villains do something to us or Merlin? What if our spells aren't strong enough? Cruella is helping the God of the Dead. _The God of the Dead! _He may be a bit easy going, but he still is what he is. He wants that crystal, and he wouldn't have chosen Cruella to find it if he thought that she couldn't handle the job or handle anyone in her way."

Sophie fell silent. For once, she didn't have a quick retort, or an eye-roll. Heather was right. She had just said the very thing that Sophie was afraid to even think, the underlying fear that she refused to admit or voice aloud. Sophie was the smart one, the cool one, the one who had it all together. It was much easier for her to fake bravado then it was to admit weakness... especially when that weakness was compounded with the most illogical scenario that Sophie could have ever imagined. After a moment, she replied. "You're right. You are absolutely, totally, right. And that's not something that I say lightly. This thing we're involved in right now... it may not make sense, it might defy logic, but it's real. And if it's real, it's serious. Dangerous, even. And I have no idea if we're up to it. That's something else that I don't say often. But we have to trust Merlin. He thinks that we can do it. He says there's something special about us. And I guess we're about to find out if he's right. After all, if we didn't trust Merlin, if we didn't care about him, would we even be here? No."

"I guess so..." Heather said, realizing that they had to do this for Merlin. "Let's hurry."


	6. Chapter 6

**(So... First off, I'd like to thank everyone for all of the reviews on this story, they mean a bunch. We read all of them and take ideas to improve the story in consideration. We love reviews! So... Review! Haha... Second, Next week there possibly wont be a new chapter because I'll be out of town... Enjoy Chapter 6!**

**- Case) **

**Chapter 6 **

The girls hurried down to the end of Main Street. They could see Cinderella's Castle getting closer and closer until they turned to the left of Casey's Corner and eventually were near the outside of the Crystal Palace.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, Sophie and Heather snuck towards the Crystal Palace. Sophie looked left and right, but she didn't see anything. Then they examined the bushes, because that was the last place that Merlin had been seen. But they didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Sophie and Heather regrouped in front of the Crystal Palace. "So... what exactly are we looking for? Because I didn't see anything," Sophie whispered. But then, there was a rustling sound in the bushes beyond the Palace. Merlin? Was he there after all? Sophie jumped forward, but then, she spotted the source of the noise and she pulled Heather behind a bench, out of sight. "It's Horace and Jasper!" she hissed.

Heather looked over towards them with her on-and-off accent coming back again she started to panic. "What should we do? Should we do a spell? Which one?"

"Well, if we stay hidden here, they might not notice us. If the movie's at all realistic, Horace and Jasper aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the tool box, if you know what I mean." Sophie held her breath as she watched Horace and Jasper. They were laughing and talking... looking rather triumphant, if Sophie had to guess. But it seemed like they had no idea that someone was spying on them. "But, if we hide here, we won't find out what happened to Merlin," Sophie admitted with a sigh. "So I guess you're right. A spell would be our best bet." She paused for a moment, running through the spells in her mind until she thought of the perfect one. "I think that Pongo's Soot Bucket might be a good fit. An appropriate touch of irony," she continued with a smile.

"Sounds perfect!" Heather said, and paused for a second. "You should do it... You're more accurate with spells! I don't trust myself with anything but Toy and Mystic Spells!"

"All right. If you insist," Sophie said, trying to hide the pleasure she felt at Heather's compliment. "But you're coming out there with me! I don't want to face any villain alone... even villains who seem as harmless as those two."

Heather rolled her eyes, trying to act tough. "Fine... Let's go." They both headed out of the bushes. Horace and Jasper still didn't notice them. "Wow...These guys are some villains," she said sarcastically. Horace and Jasper turned around. Shocked, they started to move towards the girls. "Uhh… umm Sophie... now would be a good time for a spell!" Heather started to stutter, backing away.

"Okay, okay. Let me think..." Sophie said as she wracked her brain, trying to remember the exact words, which seemed to have fled from her mind at the same moment that Horace and Jasper started to approach them.

"Hey! You two! What do you think you're doing here?" Horace exclaimed as he walked closer.

"They're those two sorcerer kids, I bet they are," Jasper replied with a snarl. "Ms. DeVil told us to keep an eye out for them. Remember?" Horace had a puzzled expression, and Jasper groaned, then smacked him upside the head. "'Course you don't remember. You're too dense to remember anything! Ms. DeVil told us that two sniveling sorcerer-wannabes might be sniffing around these parts, looking for you-know-who. She said we're supposed _to take care of them_," he said, with a meaningful wave.

"That doesn't sound promising," Sophie whispered to Heather with a worried look. But luckily, the two goons had been arguing for long enough that Sophie managed to remember the spell. Taking a deep breath and feigning confidence, she stepped forward and pointed at the two.

"Oh look, the little girlie is trying to do a trick!" Jasper laughed mockingly. But Sophie ignored him, focusing solely on the spell she was about to recite. "_The thick black dust that I will throw, may cover you from head to toe!_" she shouted.

Then a fog-like black cloud of dust covered the two men. You could hear them coughing. Heather and Sophie were out of the fog, but the goons thought that the girls were in it, too. You could hear them fighting each other, shouting. "I'll tie em' up Horace!" "They got me Jasper!... Never mind, I got 'em!" It went on for about a minute or so until the fog cleared up. Apparently, the goons had captured _themselves_, and were now sitting on the ground, tied up with rope. "Well... that worked out well..." Heather said.

"Yes, I suppose it did," Sophie replied, smiling. "Better than I could have predicted, that's for sure." Then she walked over to the now-helpless goons. "Hello there. Thank you for tying yourselves up. Very convenient for us," she said, filled with cockiness after their easy victory.

"You got lucky!" Jasper whined, struggling to free himself. But he couldn't... he and Jasper had captured themselves too efficiently for that.

"While you're here, we have a question for you," Sophie continued, shooting Heather a grin. She couldn't believe her own boldness, but she was so pleased with their victory that she couldn't help herself. "Where did you take Merlin?"

"We'll never squeal!" Jasper said, looking away. "Yeah! We don't need to take orders from you!" Horace added. Heather _definitely_ wasn't gonna take that answer...

"Listen you two. I would love it if we could do this the easy way..." Heather said, crossing her arms. "But my friend Sophie here, the one who had the power to tie you up, won't take that for an answer... And she happens to have full memory of any spell you can think of."

"You're bluffing!" Horace said with a bit of fear in his voice.

"Is she?" Sophie said smugly, stepping closer to the goons. She bent down and looked Horace straight in the eyes. He tried to squirm away, but the ropes held him fast. "I take my studies very seriously. Do you know what that means?" Horace didn't answer, and Sophie continued. "It means that I have spent every spare moment studying that spell book. I know them all. And I can use them, too." Fear sparked in Horace's eyes, and even Jasper began to look nervous. But they still weren't talking. Sophie decided that it was time to bring things to the next level... even if it required a bit of fibbing. "You got a little taste of my powers back there. That dust spell? Easy. You want to see something REALLY dangerous? I can do that, if it would convince you. How about if I turn into a fire-breathing dragon? Or make you disappear on the spot? I'm a sorcerer. You don't want to mess with me."

"We'll never— " Jasper was cut off by a terrified Horace.

"She's got Merlin trapped up in Town Square Theatre, she does!" Horace exclaimed.

"Horace!" Jasper said, implying he should stop.

"Why is she at Town Square Theatre?" Heather asked. "What's gonna happen to Merlin?" she said. They both remained silent until she waved her hands like she was going to start a spell. They panicked.

"She's gettin' ready to give the bit of that crystal she found to that Lord of the Dead character!"

"What about Merlin?" Heather yelled.

"We don't know what's gonna happen to your magic friend!" Jasper said. "But as far as I know, it's nothing good!"

Sophie looked at Heather with fear in her eyes. "Come on. Merlin needs us. And now we know where to find him. We've got to get to the Main Street Theatre, and fast!" Sophie turned to go when she heard a plaintive whimper from behind her. "You're not just going to _leave_ us here, are you?" said Horace.

"You tied yourselves up, so untie yourselves. We've got to go save _our friend_, who might be in big trouble, thanks to your boss. So you can thank her for your little predicament," Sophie called back over her shoulder. She actually felt a little bad leaving them there like that, but they were the bad guys. She couldn't help them, especially because they'd probably go straight to Cruella with the news that she and Heather were on the way.

"Ms. DeVil's not going to be happy with us when she finds out..." Horace whined as Sophie walked away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 **

Heather and Sophie ran as fast as they could toward the Main Street Theatre. It didn't help that they had been near the Adventureland border when they got the news about where Cruella was. Soon they were by the bakery. Heather was faster than Sophie—the fact that she ran a lot on the farm probably helped—so she slowed down a bit to talk. "I bet we're just freaking out, Sophie... How could Cruella even capture Merlin? She's not a witch or magical or anything."

"I don't know. That's the odd part. I mean, as far as I can remember, she can't do anything except design and collect fur coats, order people around, and drive really, really badly," Sophie said with a small smile. But then her smile faded. "But I know that Merlin's in trouble. I don't know why I'm so sure, but I just... feel it, I guess. I know, weird coming from me, right? But it's true. Besides, if he wasn't in trouble, he would have met us at the firehouse. I know it."

Heather didn't argue. She had to admit something wasn't right.

When they reached the entrance to the Theatre, Heather wondered something. "Where do you think they are?" _They could be anywhere! _Heather thought to herself.

"I don't know. I didn't really think this through, I suppose," Sophie replied uncertainly. She wasn't used to doing things without a plan. "I guess we should just start looking around. Hopefully, we'll know it when we see it. But we should be careful. We don't want to get captured too. If we're caught, and Merlin's caught, I honestly don't know what would happen." Sophie felt a shiver, imagining the possibilities. What would her parents think if she just disappeared, never to return?

They opened the door and headed into the building. There were two places they could go: Mickey's line and the Princesses' line. Heather thought for a second... which would be the most dangerous area for Merlin? Then it hit her... Merlin, Spells, Magician Mickey... _**MAGIC**_! "Sophie! We have to hurry! We have to get Merlin!" Heather said, trying to drag Sophie into the Mickey Mouse line.

"Whoa! Hold on! What did you figure out?" Sophie exclaimed as Heather dragged her into Mickey's line.

"Mickey is _MAGICIAN_ Mickey here. There's all sorts of magic-y stuff in there..." Heather explained as the girls ran through the line.

"And if the magic's real, Cruella could use any of it against Merlin!" Sophie finished as she figured out what Heather was suggesting. "_That's_ how Cruella's holding him!" Sophie started running alongside Heather, realizing the urgency of the situation.

"Let's roll! We gotta get in that room!" Heather said. She heard a noise and stopped; it kind of spooked her. "Sophie! Be on your guard! We don't know what Cruella's got up her sleeve, or where she is." Heather held out her hands preparing to cast a spell, just in case. They hurried to the meet and greet while keeping their guard up, until they got to the door.

Repeating spells to herself, Sophie approached the door. "Ready?" she whispered to Heather. "We'll go in on the count of three. One... two... THREE!" Sophie swung open the door and dashed inside, Heather close behind her. Sophie looked around frantically, half-expecting Cruella to be waiting to attack. But she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The room seemed empty. She scanned the props, looking for anywhere that Cruella might be hiding... or anywhere where Merlin could be captured. The room looked strange in the half-light, empty of happy guests, and it gave Sophie the creeps. She walked over to Mickey's dresser, tentatively poking the props, but they seemed normal, not magical at all.

"Well... that was... oddly normal..." Heather was relieved, but at the same time, she was angry that they didn't find Merlin. "I don't understand! Horace and Jasper said they were here!" Heather said, looking around the room for anything fishy.

"I don't know..." Sophie said, testing another prop. She spotted Sorcerer Mickey's hat, and she felt her heart quicken. Was it the _real_ hat? She walked over and picked it up. Then, hesitantly, she put it on. She looked at herself in the mirror. The sight of herself in a sorcerer hat made her heart quicken. Was she really a sorcerer? Suddenly her reflection reminded her of Merlin. This wasn't the time for distractions. Blushing, she quickly took the hat off. "Another dud," she said, trying to sound like it hadn't affected her. "Maybe Horace and Jasper sent us on a wild goose chase."

"Sounds like a villainish thing to do..." Heather mumbled. "Let's get outta here. They're probably still tied up; we can make sure we get the correct information this time!" She held open the other door, which led to the gift shop.

"Yeah. Let's go. I'd like to give those two a piece of my mind," Sophie said grimly. She walked through the door and rushed into the shop. There wasn't any time to waste; who knew how long it would take for Horace and Jasper to get away? No longer paying attention to their surroundings, the girls hurried through the shop. Suddenly, the sound of voices stopped them in their tracks. "How'd you like to be turned into a lovely fur coat, darling? You'd make a lovely muff... a much better muff than a sorcerer."

"It's them!" Sophie whispered. The girls ran towards the sound. In a moment, they saw her. Cruella was standing near the Tank of Terror, holding up the Saw of Destiny menacingly. "Or I could just saw you in half and save myself the trouble. You're fond of magic tricks, aren't you?" she continued, unaware of the girls' presence. Sophie and Heather crept closer until they could see into the Tank. There was a dog trapped inside! But it wasn't just any dog... this dog had a long white beard. "Merlin!' Sophie gasped.

"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" Heather yelled toward Cruella. "Like... you two?" Cruella said, holding the saw in the air as the blades moved. Heather could hear the motor run as Cruella laughed menacingly.

"Oh boy..." Heather said, realizing that probably hadn't been the best way to handle it.

"I don't think we thought that through..." Sophie whispered to Heather as Cruella approached them, waving the saw tauntingly. Sophie looked past Cruella to the Tank, where Merlin was still struggling. "You deal with Cruella for a minute. I'll go help Merlin." Before Heather could reply, Sophie dashed off, swerving around Cruella until she reached Merlin... or more exactly, the Merlin-Dog. "Merlin! What happened!" Sophie exclaimed as she pulled on the handcuffs that were holding him down.

"Oh, I was just a foolish old man," Merlin replied bitterly. "I walked straight into a trap. I heard that Cruella was hiding here with a piece of the crystal, so I tried to sneak in. But she was waiting for me."

"But why are you a dog?" Sophie asked, still desperately fiddling with the cuffs.

"I thought that it might be more subtle. Besides, I hoped to track her scent. Looking back, it clearly wasn't my wisest decision, considering Cruella's history."

"You think?" Sophie asked sarcastically. She kept tugging on the cuffs, but it didn't work. Then she tried a spell, but the metal didn't respond. "They're magic-proof; I've already tried," Merlin explained. "Cruella's got the key... and a piece of the Crystal. Go deal with her, and then come back for me."

"But I don't want to leave you like this!" Sophie whispered.

"And I don't want Heather to get sawed in half by a deranged dog-crazy maniac!" Merlin snapped back. "Go!" Reluctantly, Sophie left Merlin in the tank and ran back to help Heather.


	8. Chapter 8

**(Heres the next Chapter! Big Shout Out to chinaluv for all the reviews! I know we have been absent lately from posting chapters. Sorry Guys! We've been really busy lately, but hope to get back to the Every-Friday-Night-Post-A-New-Chapter routine!) **

**Chapter 8**

"Thanks for leaving me with the crazy lady with the magical chainsaw, Sophie!" Heather yelled as Sophie ran towards Merlin. Cruella was coming Heather's way, and Heather was terrified. _Come on, come on… What's that spell?_ Heather said to herself.

"_Without the touch of human hands, they're marching to their own command!_" Heather said aloud, waving her arms. Brooms marched out from every door; about three times more brooms than there had been on Tom Sawyer's Island. But it was no use. When they fought Cruella, she buzzed the wooden brooms down to sawdust.

When she chopped the last one, she looked at Heather, laughing evilly. "And now for the main event!" she said, holding the chainsaw above Heather.

"You can join in anytime now, Sophie! _Preferably NOW!_" Heather yelled.

"Whoa!" Sophie yelped, sliding in next to Heather just before Cruella sliced her in half. "Sorry about that... I thought that if we could get Merlin loose, maybe he could help us..." Sophie and Heather ducked as Cruella swung the saw down, narrowly missing their heads. "Maybe that wasn't my best plan," Sophie apologized as they dodged another swing. "Maybe I should stop talking and try a spell," she gasped to herself as the saw almost nicked her arm. Based on the angry look that Heather shot her, a spell was long overdue.

"_A giant can be dark and Grimm, and he won't like you 'stalking' him,_" Sophie exclaimed, gasping out the Mickey's Magic Beans spell. Immediately, a giant beanstalk started growing in front of Cruella, but she just laughed and chopped it down with the chainsaw. "Well that didn't work as well as I'd hoped," Sophie muttered to Heather.

As Heather was dodging the various chainsaw swipes, she heard a deep voice. "_Heather_" Heather turned around; no one was there. "_Heather_." She heard it again... it was coming from inside of her. She couldn't explain why. She blocked out the situation and the noise for a second, focusing on the voice. "Heather, you're trying too hard," it said. "_Try an easier spell, a Toy or Machine spell. Remember, Cruella isn't the hardest of all villains._" Then it faded away.

Heather zoned back in. She had accidentally left Sophie to fend for herself. "We need an easy spell!" she said to Sophie.

"An easy spell? Are you crazy? If Cruella's beating the hard ones without blinking an eye, how on earth would an easy spell stop her? I don't know about you, but I don't feel like being _sawed in half_!" Sophie exclaimed, dodging Cruella's saw once again. "Or then again, maybe you DO want to get chopped up, seeing as you completely spaced out a moment ago," Sophie added. But then she saw the look on Heather's face: she looked dead serious, and more than a little freaked out. Whatever it was, she wasn't kidding around. "Fine," Sophie relented. "Try an easy spell. Be my guest. But don't blame me if you get a free haircut in the process."

"Trust me; I got a gut feeling about this," Heather said. She dodged the saw once again, along with Sophie. Heather waved her arms straight at Cruella. "_When trouble gets quite out of hand, call your friends at Star Command!_" Just then Buzz Lightyear's handcuff, with his laser, appeared on Heather's right arm. Cruella almost cut her as Heather tumbled to the ground and shot the laser at the saw. It easily broke into pieces. Looked stunned and scared, Cruella quickly tried to flee the building with the crystal in hand.

"Not so fast!" Sophie shouted. "_Twirl yer rope just like a cowboy. You'll be catching crooks, and how, boy!_" Woody's lasso appeared in Sophie's hand. As if it had a mind of its own, the rope swung out and looped around Cruella, stopping her in her tracks. Then it tightened around her, pulling her to the ground. Cruella yanked at the rope, but it was useless: she was stuck. "I can't believe that worked! Easy spells... who'd have thought it!" Sophie exclaimed as she ran towards the tangled-up Cruella. "How _did_ _you_ think of it?" she asked curiously. Heather looked awkward for a moment, but before she could reply, Merlin called to them from the Tank, where he was still captured. "Questions later. Perhaps we focus on the matter at hand first?"

"Good point," Sophie conceded.

"I'll get Merlin out, and you can get the Crystal from Cruella," Heather said as they split up.

"Well done, Heather!" Merlin said as she melted the cuffs with her laser, releasing him. "And thank you," he added, coming out of the tank. They both went towards Cruella and Sophie.

"Give me the Crystal!" Sophie shouted for the third time. But Cruella was stubborn; she wasn't going to hand it over easily... unlike the key to Merlin's handcuffs, which Sophie got on the first try. "Why don't you make me, darling," Cruella replied snidely. Apparently she wasn't as easily frightened as Horace and Jasper.

"Fine. Maybe a spell will change your mind?" Sophie replied, getting frustrated. But before she could do anything, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around to find Merlin and Heather.

"Merlin! You're okay! And you're yourself again!" she added, noticing that Merlin wasn't a dog anymore. "But how did you get out? I have the key right here."

"The cuffs were magic-proof. Apparently, they weren't laser-proof," Merlin laughed.

"Not exactly patient, are you?" Sophie teased Heather, laughing back. "But we have bigger problems now. Mrs. Furry Coat over here won't give me the Crystal, and I don't exactly want to search her for it."

"Not necessary. After what she did to me, I would be more than happy to add a little magic to the situation..." Merlin replied with a glint in his eye. Either Cruella saw the look on his face, or she was more afraid of the centuries-old sorcerer than a teenage girl. Maybe it was both. Whatever the reason, she quickly backed down and handed over the piece of Crystal without a fight. Merlin took the Crystal with a smile, and then turned to the girls.

"Good job, Sorcerers! I was in quite the pickle!" Merlin said, laughing to himself.

"So Merlin, we have the crystal." Heather paused for a second and whispered, "What about the crazy fur-lady?"

"I can hear you, you fool!" Cruella yelled.

"Well then, Merlin," Heather said in a regular tone, "How do we make sure Cruella is kept under wraps?"

"Yeah. If we let her go, she'll probably go straight to Hades. We can't let her make more trouble. But we won't... you know... kill her or anything. Right?" Sophie said nervously.

"Oh, dear me, no! Of course not! Who do you think I am, a villain?" Merlin said with a shudder. "But you _are_ right; we can't let her go. We have to imprison her somehow, and since she's a Character, a normal prison simply won't do. Luckily, I've been working on a new spell just for an occasion such as this." Merlin cleared his throat and rolled up his sleeves. Then he extended his arms toward Cruella, whose smug smile had faded into a nervous, fearful frown. Merlin wiggled his fingers and closed his eyes, focusing. Then he opened his eyes and exclaimed in a powerful voice, "_Hateful villain, evil foe... Into the Crystal you must go! For your wicked deeds you must pay, so in this Crystal you will stay!_"

Just then, a swirl of light surrounded Cruella as the piece of Crystal shook. The stream of light that covered her disappeared into the Crystal. Heather's eyes became wide as she saw the Crystal shake, a miniaturized Cruella yelling to get out from inside it. Merlin smiled, patting the Crystal. "Well, that should keep her occupied for a while. In the meantime, I think it's time for our training to accelerate while it can. Starting tomorrow night, every night… we cannot let the villains have the upper hand!"

"Sounds good," Heather said, still shocked that Cruella was in the Crystal, as Merlin put it in his pocket.

"Yeah. They won't be happy that you got away, Merlin... or that we captured Cruella," Sophie replied. "If I were them, I'd be out for revenge," she continued, unable to take her eyes off of Merlin's pocket. She couldn't quite believe what she had just seen. She didn't doubt it—not like she would have in the past—but she just couldn't quite wrap her brain around it. Merlin saw her staring and put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, of course. It's just that this is... it's becoming much more real than I could have imagined. And more serious," she replied. "But I wouldn't go back for anything," she added with a smile.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that," Merlin said. "And you're right... it is becoming more serious. That's exactly why we need to up our training, so you are prepared. Although I must say that you handled yourselves quite impressively this time, especially considering that I was... ahem... otherwise engaged." Sophie began to laugh, and then her laugh turned into a yawn. She tried to hide it, but Merlin spotted it.

"I've kept you here too long. After all you've been through, you must be exhausted!" Merlin exclaimed, looking between Heather and Sophie. The girls tried to argue, but Merlin wouldn't hear it. "There'll be time for training tomorrow. Tonight you need sleep. You've done so much for me already, and you'll be no use to anyone, day or night, if you can't keep your eyes open!" He escorted the girls to the Railroad poster in the Main Street tunnel, and he sent them through the portal. "Thank you again! See you tomorrow night!" he called as they disappeared.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 **

Heather went through the portal and arrived in the caves on Tom Sawyer's Island. Then she raced to the fort, which was on the other side of the island. Things were getting more complicated training-wise. Merlin was frustrated, feeling the two girls weren't ready for what lied ahead, and training accelerated tremendously. He made them go back to any spell they failed, wanting to make sure they could defeat any villain they came in contact with. He kept working to make them what Merlin called "Master Sorcerers". For the past week, Merlin was trying to become a bigger challenge to Heather and Sophie, but whatever he turned into, whatever he pulled, Sophie and Heather could conquer it. When the week ended, Merlin was still annoyed, thinking the girls needed a bigger challenge. Little did Sophie and Heather know that there was a big one lying ahead.

"Good evening, Heather!" Merlin said as she came into the Fort. She was late, again. Sophie was there, buzzing though spells already.

"Hey, Merlin! What did I miss exactly?" Heather said.

"Actually, you're just in time! I have a feeling my friend has arrived to help us!"

"What do you mean?" Heather replied, confused.

"Well, I wasn't being much of a challenge for you and Sophie. So, I asked a good friend to come in and help." Merlin smiled as an odd laugh, from what Heather supposed was his "friend," came from behind her.

"He's been taunting me with hints since I got here," Sophie called over her shoulder. Then she turned back to the empty space where she was trying to summon an army of brooms. Heather was still better at mystic spells than she was... a situation that Sophie was hoping to remedy, especially since Merlin had upped their training. She took a deep breath and focused. But then she felt a hand tapping her on the back. "Heather, I'm busy here," she said without looking behind her. Then she heard a weird laugh. "Heather..." she said frustratedly, turning around. But it wasn't Heather... it was STITCH! Sophie screamed and jumped backwards. Stitch grinned at her. "Heather, Sophie, I'd like you to meet my friend Experiment 626, better known as Stitch," Merlin said with a smile. "He's here to help with your training. You'll be battling him from now on, and I dare say that you might find him a bit more difficult to defeat. He's known for being a bit... errr... mischievous," Merlin continued, a twinkle in his eye.

"Okay Stitch, let's see what you've got," Sophie responded determinedly. She didn't like the way that Stitch had spooked her, and now it was time for revenge. "_Bippity boppity boo! A spate of pumpkins falls on you!_" She recited the Fairy Godmother's Pumpkin Bash spell, and smiled with satisfaction as a giant pumpkin appeared in the air, falling towards Stitch. But her smile faded as Stitch somersaulted out of the way. Then, cackling, he grabbed the pumpkin and threw it towards her. Sophie tried to dodge the pumpkin, but it rolled over her foot. Stitch ran over and began to devour the pumpkin. "Stitch likes pumpkin!" he exclaimed between bites. But Sophie wasn't amused. "Ow!" she yelped, rubbing her sore foot. Merlin tried to keep himself from laughing. "Perhaps this is exactly what you need to keep improving," he said.

"Stitch!" Heather said. She was pretty happy for a challenge, but she wasn't sure if she'd do better than Sophie. While Stitch was eating the pumpkin, Heather got ready with another spell: Monstro's Water Spout Spell, to be exact. She started to whisper, "_Your thirst will be forever quenched, though after you'll be sorely drenched!_"

From out of nowhere, water spewed from where Heather's hands, towards Stitch. He turned around, soaked. Heather was very happy that she got him with something that worked, but Stitch wasn't amused, growling a bit. He started to run towards her, so she ran to the other side of the fort. For a while, Stitch was chasing her as Heather exclaimed, ever so often, "Stop it you bad mutt!" and "Let's move along!" in her Southern accent.

"Nicely done, Heather!" Merlin called, but Heather didn't reply, because she was too busy running away from Stitch.

"Stitch doesn't like water... why didn't I think of that?" Sophie muttered to herself. She didn't like looking silly, and today, it was happening over and over again. She watched as Stitch chased Heather around the fort. "Aren't you going to help her?" Merlin said with a small grin.

"Let him eat her," Sophie grumbled. Merlin gave her an odd look, but Sophie wouldn't meet his eyes. First Stitch made a fool of her, and now Heather did a better spell than her? This was not a good day. "Fine, I'll help her myself," Merlin replied, shaking his head. "Stitch! Stop that! Come back here!" he called, joining the chase.

Soon Merlin calmed down Stitch, and they came to a halt near Sophie, who still refused to look at Heather. Merlin looked between the two girls, sensing the obvious tension. He waited for a moment, seeing if either of them would make a move, and then he sighed. "Are we here to train, or are we here to mope? Let's get back to casting spells," he said sternly.

"Fine," Sophie replied. Then she turned to Stitch and prepared to cast another spell. This was going to be a long night.

The next three days were madness. Heather and Stitch finally started getting along, as Heather's spells became more accurate. Sophie was getting better too, but for some reason, Heather felt like there was some tension between them. Heather didn't know what happened; last time Heather noticed an issue between them, it was about Fantasy vs. Reality. She really couldn't imagine what it was about now.

Heather raced to the fort once again, but this time, something was odd. She didn't hear Stitch yelling, nor did she feel him creeping behind her. Heather moved her hands into position, getting ready for a spell as she went across the bridge. She felt like something—or someone—was in the river waters; she couldn't explain why… she could just sense it. As she left the bridge, she hurried to the fort. Everything seemed normal: Sophie and Merlin were there, but something wasn't right. She could feel it.

"She's late... again," Sophie complained, just as Heather showed up. "Oh good, you're here. Maybe we can actually start training now." Sophie knew it sounded snappish, but she couldn't help it. Over the past few practices, Heather had shown her up time and time again, and Sophie didn't like it. At all. Frankly, Heather wasn't exactly her favorite person at the moment.

"Actually, Heather wasn't the reason for our delay," Merlin said, apparently ignoring the sarcasm in Sophie's voice. "Stitch hasn't arrived yet. You know that Stitch travels to the island via a special portal I installed in his attraction, 'Stitch's Great Escape'. He doesn't like to swim, and frankly, I don't trust him with a raft. But I've been having difficulties with the portal tonight. It seems like it isn't working. I had hoped that Stitch might show up, but since Heather's here now, I suppose we can't wait any longer. Let's commence with the night's training."

"Hooray," Sophie said dully. She wasn't too fond of Stitch either. Actually, she hadn't been pleased with Merlin lately, for that matter. He had been oozing with praise for Heather, and although she didn't want to admit it, Sophie was jealous. Merlin looked at her disappointedly, not understanding the source of the tension. But before he could say anything, there was a sudden CRASH! Instinctively, all three of them jumped into position for a spell. "Maybe Stitch made it after all?" Sophie whispered.

"That's not Stitch..." Merlin whispered back. "I think it's actually—" Suddenly, there was another crash, and a cannon ball sailed through the fort wall. "I think it's actually a cannon ball!" Merlin finished needlessly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Three more cannon balls flew through the air into the fort. "Heather, what is on the Rivers of America?" Merlin asked.

"How in the world would…" Heather started to say, but then she zoned out. She had a vision of the water by Big Thunder Mountain. An old Christopher Columbus-type boat. The view got closer and closer until Heather saw who was directing the cannon blasts, and she heard the mysterious voice from the battle with Cruella saying one word: "Ratcliffe."

Heather zoned back in. The cannons were firing every few seconds. "It's Governor Ratcliffe!" Heather screamed, trying to yell over the blasts.

"How on earth could you _possibly_ know that?" Sophie shouted back. But to her astonishment, Merlin nodded. "Ratcliffe. I should have known," he muttered.

"Are you telling me that you actually believe her? What, does she have a crystal ball or something?" Sophie exclaimed, simmering with envy and frustration.

"Or something," Merlin replied, not really paying attention. His eyes scanned the walls and he began to pace, as if he was planning something. Sophie and Heather trailed behind him until he suddenly screeched to a halt. He spun around to face them, his expression grim. "Girls, I want you to leave."

"LEAVE? But the fort is under attack! You need us!" Sophie exclaimed.

"What I _don't_ need is for all three of us to get captured. After the Cruella incident, I realized that I have been underestimating the villains' intelligence. If this is a trap like last time, I don't want you to get trapped with me. I need you to leave the island and wait for me at the firehouse. If I need help, I'll send you another message."

"But..." Sophie tried to protest, but Merlin wouldn't let her speak.

"No. You two must leave. The portals aren't working properly... perhaps Ratcliffe is behind it somehow. Yes, that would make sense... close off the portals, trapping us here on the island." Merlin was mumbling to himself now, but suddenly he snapped back to attention. "You'll find a small raft hidden on the island, near the docks. I put it there just for an emergency such as this. I'll keep Ratcliffe busy here. Hopefully, he might be joining Cruella soon," Merlin continued, patting his pocket where he kept the piece of Crystal.

More cannonballs showered the fort walls. Then Merlin spotted some of Ratcliffe's men, scaling the remaining walls with ropes. "There's no time to waste. Go!" Merlin ordered.

The two girls ran further into the fort. Merlin had told them earlier that, for such emergencies, there was an escape tunnel hidden in a fort wall. They both ran through it, leading them outside the fort. Wasting no time, they ran to the bridge. As they went over it, Heather had a feeling, a sense that they were missing something important on the different path. "I have a gut feeling we should go to the left, and pass though the caves on the way to the raft area," Heather said. She didn't understand why, but these 'senses' hadn't screwed her up yet.

"Oh, brilliant. Let's go into the dark, closed-in caves, where there's only one entrance and one exit. Exactly the place I'd want to go when the island is under invasion. It's not like that's the _perfect place for an attack_," Sophie replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She stomped ahead for a moment, simmering. Then she stopped and spun around to face Heather. "There is no way on earth that I'm going into those caves. Especially because you have some sort of 'gut feeling'. I've got a gut feeling too: it's telling me that your gut feeling is a lot of nonsense! I don't know why Merlin believes you, but I don't." All of Sophie's resentment bubbled to the surface as she exclaimed, "I'm sick and tired of your 'feelings' and your fancy mystic spells... and… and YOU!" Without waiting for a response, Sophie turned around and starting running down the main trail, not wanting to see Heather's hurt face.

"FINE THEN!" Heather yelled, her southern accent coming out. "But you ain't comin' to me when you're attacked by them Ratcliffe folk!" she said as she went in the opposite direction.

Heather was walking down the path to the cave, when she started to get the chills. It was pretty odd for her to get cold in the park, considering she always had a red long-sleeved plaid shirt. She saw the cave entrance and quickly went in. Somehow the cave felt... different. She couldn't explain it, it was... darker and more mysterious. She started to walk when she heard a noise, followed by a gust of coldness. She shivered, but she kept walking in the cave. She guessed that she was halfway there when, all of the sudden, all the lights went out.

"What's the big idea?" Heather yelled, rlling up her sleeves and getting ready to recite a spell. She saw misty, dark figures circling around her. "This ain't funny, Sophie..." Heather was starting to get spooked as the figured swarmed her, laughing evilly.

"Sophie? Sophie?" Heather said, as her call then turned into a scream. "SOPHIE!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Sophie walked determinedly down the main path, muttering to herself. "That Heather... thinks she's so special... I've had it with her mystic spells and her lucky guesses... she thinks _I'm_ going to get in trouble? _She's _the one trapping herself in those silly caves... Well I'm not about to—" Suddenly Sophie heard a shout. Worrying that it was Ratcliffe or one of his men, she catapulted into the bushes and hid. Then she went stock still, listening. There it was again. Someone was calling her name... and they sounded desperate. Suddenly Sophie recognized the voice. It was Heather! She had to be in trouble. For a moment—just one miniscule second—Sophie felt a surge of satisfaction. She knew Heather had made the wrong decision. But then she shook her head. What was she thinking? Heather was her friend, and she needed her help. Sophie turned around and ran to the caves, a new sense of panic fueling her steps.

"SOPHIE!" Heather yelled again. The things were surrounding her; they weren't really ghosts, even though they looked just as frightening. They were more like misty figures... That's when Heather realized it. "SHADOWS!" she screamed.

Sophie followed the sound of Heather's voice. "I KNEW that cave was a bad idea!" she mumbled worriedly, dashing through the entrance. Once she got into the cave, she screeched to a halt. The caves were always dark, but there was normally SOME light. But for some reason, the cave was pitch black. For a moment, she considered running back for a flashlight... or maybe she could think of an appropriate spell. But then she heard Heather shout again. If Sophie lit something up, whoever had Heather might see her. She couldn't take that risk, so she stretched out her arms, feeling for the walls, and made her way forward.

The shadows were circling around her so much; Heather couldn't concentrate to come up with a spell. She panicked as one of the shadows tried to drag her out of the cave. "MERLIN!" she shouted.

Sophie was working her way through the cave when she heard Heather scream again... but this time, she was calling for Merlin. Things had to be serious if she needed _Merlin's_ help! Forgetting caution, Sophie ran pell-mell through the cave, scraping her elbows on the walls as she occasionally lost her sense of direction. Finally, she saw dark shapes ahead of her. Heather! She was surrounded by... something. In the darkness, Sophie couldn't really make them out; they looked blurred and shadowy. But Sophie didn't care what they were; she just had to get them away from Heather. Immediately, she conjured up the hardest, most powerful spell she knew: Merlin's Fireball Spell. _If sorcery you would acquire, don't get too close to balls of fire!_ She hadn't used this spell in battle since the very first night she found herself in the Magic Kingdom, but she was too focused on the enemy at hand to reminisce. The spell worked perfectly: several _perfectly_-formed fireballs exploded from her hands, one aimed_ perfectly _at each foe. It was the best spell Sophie had ever done... but somehow, it didn't work. The fireballs went STRAIGHT THROUGH the bad guys, disappearing when they made contact with the wall behind them. But for a moment, they lit up the room just enough for Sophie to realize what she was up against. Were those _shadows_?!

"Merlin!" Heather said as the cave started to light up. When the fireballs were thrown at the shadows, it gave Heather just enough time to escape the one dragging her and run to (who she thought was) Merlin. Heather thought Merlin had come for her, but as she looked up she saw… "Sophie?" she questioned.

"Yeah, it's me! Did you really think I was Merlin? Was the spell that good?" Sophie asked, glowing with pride, momentarily forgetting their danger.

"Well, I thought by now _you'd_ be on Merlin's raft," Heather said. Hearing a noise, she turned back around. "Looks like we got some trouble," she said as the shadows started coming back to the both of them, looking angrier than before.

"I couldn't leave without you. Even if you did make a bad decision, which I _tried_ to warn you about," Sophie said teasingly, elbowing Heather. "But right now, I think we've got bigger problems," she added, seeing the shadows come closer. "I already tried my best spell, and it didn't work at all. It just... went right through them. It kind of makes sense, now that I know they're shadows. But maybe you'll have better luck. Unless your _gut_ has a better idea..." she whispered to Heather as the shadows herded them together, until they were standing back-to-back.

"Not really, I'll just wing it," Heather said. Starting to feel more comfortable in the cave now that another sorcerer was around, Heather tried an easy spell. "_Beware the sound that shakes the trees, and brings the jungle to its knees!_" Heather whispered. She closed her mouth for a second, and then opened it with Simba's Roar, trying to scare the shadows away. But the spell didn't work in the way she had hoped.

"Not that spell!" Sophie gasped. But it was too late. Of course, the shadows didn't even flinch... it didn't affect them at all. But as the mighty roar echoed through the cave, the walls began to shake. Then small pieces of rock began to rain down from the ceiling. "Brilliant idea Heather... trap us in a cave-in with the shadows! It might stop them... _but we're going to get CRUSHED!_" she exclaimed as the cave rumbled and rattled. Shadows blocked the exits on either side. There was no way to escape. Sophie closed her eyes and braced for the worse.

Suddenly, the rumbling sound stopped. Sophie peeked open an eye. The cave had stopped shaking! But how? Sophie opened the other eye and spotted their savior. It was Mama Odie, the wise bayou woman from "The Princess and the Frog"!

Heather watched as Mama Odie fought the Shadows, dissolving them without even a flinch. "Wow," Heather said, stunned.

"Amazing," Sophie agreed, watching Mama Odie in awe. Sophie's best spell hadn't even dented the shadows, but Mama Odie was disintegrating them. And she was old, petite, and, quite frankly, blind! Apparently, she didn't need to _see_ the shadows to shoot streams of light at them, shockingly accurately.

When the last shadow was gone, Mama Odie turned to the two shocked girls. 'Well? What are you two looking at?"

"How did you... what did you..." Sophie stammered before settling on a more obvious question. "How do you know we're looking at you? I mean... you can't see..."

"I can see much more than you two youngins. But _you_ need to start seeing much more if you wanna succeed. You gotta dig a little deeper! Facilier's no fool. He's gonna keep you on your toes, I guarantee."

"Dr. Facilier? He's behind this? But I thought it was Ratcliffe..." Sophie asked.

"Ratcliffe? That fool couldn't find his head if it wasn't connected to his neck. No, Facilier's behind this. You gotta listen to old Mama Odie," she replied.

"But..." Sophie began to ask another question, but Mama Odie interrupted her.

"This ain't no place for a talk. Let's go to my house. We can have a little gumbo and you might learn a few things, too," Mama Odie said in a tone that allowed no argument.

The two girls followed Mama Odie out of the cave. She took them back to the bridge to the part of the island that where Heather supposed she lived. Instead of heading to the Fort, she took a right into the woods of the island. The farther it went, the more swampy the forest became. Heather was starting to see why Mamma Odie chose this place for her home: it was very similar to the bayous around New Orleans. As soon as they hit the Rivers of America, there was a small cabin with a sign that said "Alligator Swamp". Mamma Odie opened the door and let them inside.

"Nice place you have here. Very... cozy," Sophie said as she looked around the cramped, slightly-slimy cabin. After seeing Mama Odie zap those shadows, Sophie definitely didn't want to make her mad. But somehow, Mama Odie knew exactly what she was really thinking. "It might look small and damp to you, but it's home to me," she said with a smile. "Now sit. Juju and I'll get us some nice hot gumbo."

"Juju?" Sophie wondered aloud. She hadn't seen "The Princess and the Frog" in a while... but her question was answered as a giant snake slithered out of the shadows and wrapped itself around Mama Odie's neck.

"SNAKE!" Sophie shouted. Then she spotted a big green, toothy face smiling at her from the window. "ALLIGATOR!" she yelped.

"Juju's my seeing-eye snake. He don't like caves, do you, Juju baby?" Mama Odie cooed. "And that's Louis," she continued, gesturing out the window. "Wouldn't hurt a fly. Nothing to worry about there," she said, sitting down next to the girls. She handed out bowls of gumbo before continuing. "You do have something to worry about, though. You'll never be able to beat Facilier if you don't dig a little deeper."

"What do you mean by 'dig a little deeper,' exactly?" Heather said, thinking. In the window, Louis looked like he was getting his trumpet ready for a musical number, but Mama Odie was just looking at Heather thoughtfully. Heather didn't really mind the snake; she had them all the time at the farm, so she was extremely used to them.

"Look inside yourself. Dig a little, and you gonna be surprised by what you find. Merlin picked you two for a reason," Mama Odie said with a smile.

"Do you know Merlin?" Sophie asked. Then again, maybe she shouldn't be surprised. They were both elderly magical people... maybe there was a club or something.

"'Course I do! Us two go way back. And he told me something very special about you," Mama Odie replied with a wink.

"What? What is it?" Sophie asked eagerly.

"Dig a little deeper and maybe you'll find out," Mama Odie said, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes.

"Come on! Can't you tell me something a little more specific?" Sophie complained. When Mama Odie remained silent, Sophie sighed. "You magical people are all the same. You never give me a straight answer! Merlin's great, but whenever I ask certain things, he won't say a single word! Like when I ask him about my supposed relation to a sorcerer. Wait... is that it? Is that what I'm supposed to find?" Sophie asked, getting excited.

"Maybe. But maybe it's more than that. You don't just need to find out who you are... what really matters is finding out what you can do. The power is in you. You'll find it if you just..."

"Dig a little deeper. I know, I know," Sophie groaned, rolling her eyes.

"What about these 'gut feelings' I've been having lately?" Heather asked. "Or that weird voice in my head that pops in sometimes?"

"All you have to do is Dig-"

"A little deeper," Heather finished her sentence.

"Right!" Mama Odie said.

"So, how exactly will we know exactly Dr. Facilier is?" Heather asked, hoping she'd give a bit more information.

"I can find that out real quick." Mama Odie went over to her huge gumbo pot, with her snake. "Gumbo, Gumbo in the pot... Whatcha got!?" she said while stirring it. An image appeared… it was Dr. Facilier.

"That ain't no good." Heather said.

Mama Odie stared into her gumbo for a minute before turning back to the girls. "You'll find Dr. Facilier at the graveyard, near the Haunted Mansion. He's meeting with his Friends From the Other Side. Louis here can give you a ride."

"Louis? The alligator?" Sophie gulped. "But why don't we just take the raft?"

"That raft is swarming with shadows," Mama Odie replied. "You don't want to get anywhere near that. They're just waiting for you. No... you need the element of surprise!"

"But can't you zap those shadows like you did back in the cave?" Sophie asked hopefully. She really wasn't looking forward to an alligator-back ride.

Mama Odie shook her head. "I could, but I won't be there. I gotta go check on Merlin. There are shadows on the island, and he won't know what to do with them. That man is amazing with magic, but he don't know anything about voodoo." Then she stood up and started ushering the girls towards the door. "You'd better get going. And don't forget..."

"We know, we know. Dig a little deeper!" chorused Sophie and Heather.


	12. HEADS UP

**So Guys... Me and AllieDisneyGirl, (co-writers of Sorcerers) decided since there's not much mention of Wayne, and the story doesn't relate to the Kingdom Keepers series at all. (Except for the fact there teens trying to save the WDW Parks.) _We're moving this story under the category Cartoons under the Disney section._**

**We talked about this and thought this would make a bit more sense to find the RPG, and what it'd be under. **

_**We're moving it on Thursday, August 16th in the afternoon.**_** So, be ready to find it in the other section Haha... **


	13. Chapter 12

**(I moved Sorcerers a day early! Sorry guys! I found out I'm super busy for the next week! Got to Love those sports practices...) **

Chapter 12

The girls headed out of the cabin and met with Louis. "Mama Odie said you could give us a ride; can you?" Heather questioned.

"I can do that!" Louis said happily.

"We need you to drop us off at the Haunted Mansion. Dr. Facilier is-"

"The Shadow Man!?" Louis asked, panicked and scared as he interrupted Heather.

"Yeah, that's him. We need to go over there and stop him," Sophie replied. Now that she saw Louis up close, she wasn't worried about him anymore. He obviously wasn't a fierce gator... in fact, he seemed more worried than her!

"I'm not going to mess with the Shadow Man. And you shouldn't, either!" Louis said, backing away.

"Do you just want to wait for the shadows to come and get us here, then?" Sophie said sarcastically. When she saw the fear in Louis' eyes, she continued. "Yep. The shadows are on the island, and they're looking for us. My guess is that they won't leave until we defeat Facilier."

"But the Shadow Man is powerful... and scary," Louis shuddered.

"So are we," Sophie said firmly. "Not scary... I mean powerful. We're Merlin's apprentices. We can handle Facilier." _We hope..._ she added silently. Louis still didn't look convinced. "Mama Odie is going to go help Merlin. Do you really want to be here without her when the shadows show up?" Sophie continued, trying a different tactic.

"Mama Odie's going away?" Louis exclaimed, even more panicked. "I'm not staying here without her!"

"Then won't you take us? You don't even need to go near Facilier. You just need to get us across the water," Sophie said coaxingly. Reluctantly, Louis finally agreed. He walked into the water and the girls climbed on his back. Then he carefully swam them across the murky river.

When they hit the docks, the girls got off of his back. Louis said his goodbyes and swam back. Heather was shaking; she was pretty nervous as they walked towards the Mansion. "You ready?" she asked Sophie worriedly, looking as scared as if she'd just encountered a few mice.

"We've dealt with Pain, Panic, Horace, Jasper, and Cruella already. How hard can Dr. Facilier be?" Sophie replied. "I mean, I know that he has magic powers, but so do we. And Merlin's been training us hard. I think we're ready for this. I hope we are, anyway. Besides... you've improved so much lately; you don't have anything to worry about," Sophie added with a forced smile.

"Yeah, I guess so..." Heather said, still worried. "Let's keep our guard up. This battle is gonna be one for the books... or at least the spell books."

Sophie couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe after this, they'll name a spell after US!" she added, trying to keep the mood light.

"Yeah..." Heather said seriously. She usually took to lightening the mood but for some reason, she had a bad feeling about this villain face-off. Especially since they had reached the entrance to the ride.

Sophie fell silent when they reached the front of the queue. When she was a little girl, she had been afraid to ride the Haunted Mansion. The eerie music and dark, shadowy spaces used to give her the creeps. When she finally conquered her fear and tried it, she discovered that it wasn't scary at all. But today, something felt different… it felt scarier than ever. As she and Heather entered the queue, Sophie found herself clenching her sweaty hands into fists. Since when was she afraid of the dark?

"So... Mama Odie said Facilier was in the graveyard. I guess that means we'll be taking the scenic route," she whispered to Heather.

"Looks like it..." Heather said as she started to walk into the queue. She'd never really been into the interactive queue yet, and was worried that they had no idea what they were up against. "Remember, we're dealing with Voodoo, not Magic, This isn't gonnaa be easy, we'll need some interesting spells..."

"I didn't think of that!" Sophie said, stopping in her tracks. "What if our spells don't work on him? I mean, they were useless against the shadows. And we don't have Mama Odie this time..." Sophie gulped, feeling unusually uncertain. She had been feeling so well-prepared, but she didn't know anything about voodoo. That wasn't exactly in her normal day-to-day repertoire. Everything she knew about magic came from Merlin and the spellbook... and as Mama Odie had said, Merlin was no voodoo expert. And if Merlin himself couldn't handle it, that didn't bode well for them. But Sophie didn't want to show her concern, especially to Heather. So she took a deep breathe and pushed her worries away. "But I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle," she continued flippantly, and not at all convincingly.

"Good Point! Merlin trained us, right? We're ready!" Heather said trying to reassure herself. The Queue stated to get more foggy the closer they got to the building. Heather was starting to shake a bit, but not terrible.

"How ya'll doin'?" A deep voice came out in the fog. The fog started to clear and started to form the shape of Dr. Facelier. Heather got a chill down her spine, she felt the shadows again.

"Me and my friends weren't expecting you." He bagan as meanacing shadows came from behind him. "But I'm sure they'll give you two a warm welcome." He said smiling evily.

"You weren't expecting us? And you call yourself a voodoo master? We were expecting you, and we're just apprentice sorcerers! I think your reputation is a bit inflated," Sophie said mockingly. Maybe this wasn't going to be as hard as she had expected. But as the shadows crept closer and closer, Sophie's smile faltered. As Facilier stood there, leaning nonchalantly against a tomb, looking entirely cool and confident, she began to wonder if he was just toying with them. That expression, so calm and smug, as if he knew that the girls had no hope of success, seemed to eat away at Sophie's mind. She couldn't think of anything-no spells, nothing. She could hardly remember what she was doing there in the first place... and for a girl who never stopped thinking, it was highly disconcerting. Suddenly Sophie felt an icy chill. She looked down to see a shadow grabbing her ankle, and it broke her out of her reverie. "You like cold? I'll give you cold," she said, her voice shaking without her knowing why. "When freezing foes of ill repute, wear long-johns 'neath your supersuit!" she shouted, reciting the Frozone's Ice Blast spell. Immediately, cold streams of fog shot out of her hands. The fog was supposed to turn to ice on contact with her enemies, but it blew straight through the shadows, freezing a gravestone instead. She spun around and tried the spell again, this time aiming for Facilier, but he seemed to disappear. Then she heard his voice behind her, laughing. "Is that all you've got?" he said with a heartless chuckle. She turned around to find him standing in a different place, as casual as could be.

"D-D-Dang it!" Heather said getting the chills and the snapped her voice back to normal. "How about a taste of one of my pals?" Hather then began to chant Tiana's Hot Sauce Spell loudly. "This tasty topping has some minuses, most encountered by your sinuses!" Hot Sauce Spalttered all over the area, again, it passed through the shadows, and it also amused Dr. Facelier. "Oh man," He said snapping his fingers, as more shadows moved in towards Sophie and Heather. "Looks like I'll have to take my suit out for dry cleaning."

"Not a bad idea, using a spell from his movie. Not like it worked... but you might be on the right track." Sophie whispered to Heather. Then she turned to Faciler. "You like frogs, right? How about you try this one on for size?" Taking a deep breath, Sophie shouted the Prince Naveen's Army of Frogs spell: "Don't disturb their lily pad. Too late! You've made them hopping mad." Dozens of frogs appeared out of thin air, lauching towards Facilier and the shadows. But they weren't any more affective than the ice or the hot sauce, passing harmlessly through the shadows and somehow evading Facilier all together. Sophie looked around in dismay. The graveyard was now full of hopping green frogs... but they were no closer to defeating Facilier and his gang of shadows. Facilier chuckled at Sophie's disgust. "You're fond of frogs, girl? I'll have to remember that. But in the meantime..." He snapped his fingers again and the frogs vanished in a puff of green smoke.

Since nothing was working, Heather was started to worry. She tried to mask it with anger toward Dr. Facelier. Hero, Animal, Mystic, and Princess Spells were useless. There were still a few options, but nothing really looked promising. Fairy Spells might work on Magic but wouldn't work on Voodoo. Monster, Toy, Warrior and Machine spells were always something tangible, something you could touch that would harm you. As the two started to learn, the shadows were a different type of matter all themselves. They had no feelings, no emotions. All they knew it that they were feared, and only Mamma Odie could handle them.

Sophie gave her the expression to try something, anything. As the shadows moved in closer. She looked at the rivers of America and said. "If one sharp point will leave you sore, Three will poke you even more!" King Triton's trident it came out of the rivers and into Heather's hand. It started to glow and feared the shadows a bit. But when the glow died down and it zapped towards Facelier, it showed no effect on him, or any of the shadows. On a good note, you could see the spells weren't duds, because after the trident electricution, Facelier's hair startedd to come out of his hat, looking like a mix between an afro and a crazy person. Long story short he didn't look amused, at all. Looking like her was going to do soemthign aweful to her, but then shook it off.

"I'd like to stay a little longer, so you two could make me laugh with more of some little spells of yours, but -" He stopped mid-sentance and took something out of his jacket.

"He has a crystal piece!" Heather whispered to herself.

"The Crystal!" Sophie gasped simultaneously. She and Heather looked at each other, each thinking the same thing. This just got a lot more serious. It was one thing if Facilier was causing trouble for them-that was irritating, but there wasn't any long term damage... so far. But if he gave Hades a piece of Crystal, that would be a major problem, not just for them, but for the whole Kingdom, maybe even the world! Merlin certainly wouldn't be happy. They had to stop him... but what could they do? The spells weren't working. Sophie's mind started racing. But before she could come up with an idea, she heard Facilier continuing. "I have an appointment that I can't miss. I've got a little trade to make with Hades, and my friends here are honored guests," he added, gesturing at the shadows. Then, jauntily doffing his cap, he did a mocking little half-bow, saying, "Thanks for the entertainment, but we've got to split. See ya!" Then there was a puff of black smoke, forcing Sophie to close her eyes. When she blinked them open again, eyes watering and coughing, Facilier and the shadows were gone.

Heather coughed when the smoke came and turned away, when she turned back Dr. Facelier was gone. "This ain't good." Heather said. She ran up to where Dr. Facelier was standing, he was gone, no trace, no clues. She looked up to Sophie and said "We gotta find him before he gives Hades that crystal. I don't have a clue how, but we've got to find him!"


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Sophie paced in a tight circle, her thoughts swirling. Facilier couldn't give Hades that Crystal. It could ruin everything... and she couldn't bring herself to picture the look of disappointment on Merlin's face, if she had to tell him that she failed. Thinking logically, she knew that he would be understanding, but she couldn't believe it. She was harder on herself than anyone else. Failure? Not an option. NEVER an option in Sophie's mind, but especially not when the world was potentially at stake.

"You're right... we have to find him. But how? The park's a really big place, and this time, we don't have Mama Odie to look into her magic gumbo pot. Wait... Mama Odie..." Sophie started pacing faster as her thoughts whirled faster. Out loud, she began forming a potential plan. "She said she was going to the fort to help Merlin, right? We could go to her, and she could help. No... that would take too much time. Facilier could give Hades the Crystal at any time. But how can we do it without her?" Sophie argued with herself as Heather stood back, a funny look on her face. Sophie knew she sounded crazy, but she was too deep into her thoughts to stop now. She kept mumbling to herself until she finally came to a decent idea. "What if... what if we head towards Tom Sawyer Island, and look for Facilier in Frontierland and Liberty Square on the way? We'll need to look everywhere if Mama Odie can't find him. Best case scenario, we find him on the way. Worst case scenario, we waste a little time, but then Mama Odie can find him for us." She didn't add the unspoken worst-er scenario: if they didn't find Facilier in time, and Hades got the piece of Crystal.

"Looks like that's our best option.." Heather said trying to think of something else. "But the problem becomes if we do find Dr. Facelier, there's no way of defeating him. We've tried everything!"

Heather was right, and Sophie knew it. But she wasn't going to admit it. "No one is undefeatable. There's got to be some way to stop him. Mama Odie can do it; there's no reason that we can't. We'll just have to figure it out as we go along." I hope... she added silently.

They went through Liberty Square with no sign of him. No Shadows, no eerie presence, no evil laugh, no Dr. Facelier. "We need to find him before it's to-!" Heather paused mid sentence. She had a vision. A View of the park from above, then zooming in closer and closer into Frontierland. Then, to Splash Mountain. Heather's sense zoomed in toward the bridge. Pain, Panic and Dr. Facelier were waiting on one person, and sadly, Heather knew who it was.

"Hades!" Heather said aloud snapping back into reality.

"Hades? Where?" Sophie's head snapped around as she quickly surveyed the area, her heart pounding. She knew they had to find him, but now that she was faced with the reality of potentially battling the Lord of the Dead, she felt terrified. But her heart rate returned to normal when she realized that Hades was nowhere in sight. "Heather, this is no time for jokes," she sighed frustratedly.

"We don't have time Sophie!" Heather said trying to drag her into Frontierland hurrying. "If I'm right this time, we got to go to Splash Mountain. NOW! "

"No way. We're not doing this again. Remember last time, when you got yourself trapped in a cave with a bunch of evil shadows and I had to come in to save the day?" Sophie griped. Of course, she had failed to save the day, and it was actually Mama Odie who saved both of the girls, but Sophie didn't feel like mentioning that minor detail. But, even as Sophie complained, she let Heather pull her along through Frontierland. Sophie didn't have any confidence in Heather's 'gut feelings'... but it was better than nothing.

When arrived to the turn where the Splash Mountain bridge was. Heather ducked behind a bush and dragged Sophie down with her. Turned out the gut feeling was correct only this time, Hades was discussing the crystal with Dr. Facelier.

Heather was frightened by the sight of Hades. She couldn't pin point what was more scary. That he was the god of the dead, or his minions could morph into scary beings. Like Mice.

Sophie wasn't sure what was more startling: the sight of Dr. Facilier with Hades, or the fact that Heather's vision was actually right. She looked at Heather, not quite sure what to say. Apologies weren't Sophie's strong suit. She opened her mouth but then shut it again, not quite able to say that Heather was right. Instead, she got down to business. "So we found them. Now what?" she whispered.

"Now... We... Do something." Heather said as the two villains kept talking. They both knew that neither one wanted to start spells, but there wasn't really another option. "No!" Heather whispered and Dr. Facelier got out the crystal to hand to Hades.

There wasn't any more time for discussion. Sophie leapt out from behind the bush. "Stop!" she shouted. Stop? Is that all you've got to say? Not an extremely effective or intelligent choice, Sophie berated herself, but it was too late to back down now.

"Look, it's the two wannabe sorcerer girls," Dr. Facilier said with a smile. "Are you here to entertain us with more of your little spells?"

"No... we're here to stop you," Sophie said, hoping she sounded stronger than she felt.

"From what the doctor's been telling me, you'll get nothing but laughs from us!" Hades replied mockingly. "Merlin's got to be pretty desperate if he thinks a couple sweeties like you are gonna stop me. Why don't you go back to your mommies?"

Sophie felt her face go red with anger. No one talked to her like that... not even the God of the Underworld. "Oh yeah?" she whispered.

The two villains exploded with laughter. "She can't even talk! And she thinks she's gonna beat us?" Hades quipped.

Sophie didn't reply. She didn't need to. Standing quietly, she focused all of her energy into Merlin's Fireball spell. "Here you go, hot head!" she said before throwing several fireballs towards the villains. Dr. Faciler stepped smoothly aside, never losing his cool, but Hades looked a little worried. "I thought you said they didn't have any skills!" he whispered furiously to Dr. Facilier.

Heather was stunned. Sophie didn't have to say the spell to do the fireball spell. But right now didn't look like the right time to congratulate her. Heather whispered so Hades couldn't hear. "Without the touch of human hands, They're marching to their own commands!" Just then a platoon of broomsticks Headed for Hades and his minions. Some throwing water on him.

"Ok, Ok!" Hades said over and over. The water was ruining his fire hair. "Guys let's go!" Hades said to Pain and Panic. They vanished in puffs of smoke as Hades said to Facelier. "Deal with them and then we'll talk."

Hades then left the scene himself, looking worried. But Dr. Facelier didn't look too amused. He snapped his fingers once again, summoning his shadows, looking fiercer then ever.

"At least he didn't give Hades the Crystal," Sophie whispered to Heather, her voice very small. But as Facilier approached them with fire in his eyes, she began to doubt the logic of their strategy. Sure, Hades didn't have the Crystal... but Facilier looked mad now. Really mad. And Sophie wasn't sure if she could enjoy her victory if she was dead.


	15. Chapter 14

**(I know this is really short this week, guys. But Schools starting to come back up and Allie and I have been SUPER busy. We'll put up a super long chapter soon!**

**Again thanks for the reviews! They mean a lot... So... Keep reviewing! Haha**

**Enjoy the Chapter!) **

**Chapter 14**

"At least he didn't give Hades the Crystal," Sophie whispered to Heather, her voice very small. But as Facilier approached them with fire in his eyes, she began to doubt the logic of their strategy. Sure, Hades didn't have the Crystal... but Facilier looked mad now. Really mad. And Sophie wasn't sure if she could enjoy her victory if she was dead.

Heather started to think quick on her feet. Like a mad idea came into her head. "If you can take on Dr. Facelier. I think I can handle the Shadows!" Heather said looking at them. Sophie gave her a look of doubt that she could handle the shadows after the cave incident. "Trust me, this might not be a 'gut feeling', but I know that I can keep them off!"

"Okay, suit yourself," Sophie replied shrugging. Honestly, she didn't think that Heather could defeat the shadows on her own. Only Mama Odie could do that, and neither of the girls had her voodoo skills. But they had to do something. And as Facilier and the shadows got closer, their faces menacing and their intent frightening, Sophie just didn't have a better idea. She stepped away from Heather and took a step towards Facilier. His smug smile faded for a second, replaced by surprise. He obviously expected them to give up without a fight... but that was NOT going to happen.

Heather wasn't confident about this idea she had, but at this point, it was the only thing she could think of to do that might work. She knew that Sophie and Dr. Facelier had to be alone, shadows and Dr. Facelier all at once were to much, they had to divide and conquer. She said aloud "Here's a simple demonstration, Of Draconic conflagration!" She held her breath and ran towards the other side of the bridge, right in the middle of the force of shadows. When she opened her mouth, Mushu's fire breath ignited the sky with bright fire and smoke. She could see the shadows fear fo the fire, but that quickly turned to anger towards Heather. She backed up slowly towards the bridge as the spell started to wear off. As soon as it was done she ran to the side of the bridge, and jumped into the Brier Patch under the water. You could hear the Splash as she went deep under the dark waters.

Sophie and Facilier circled each other. Once the initial surprise wore off, his mouth quickly resumed a smug, amused, and completely infuriating smile. It threw Sophie's confidence... he looked so sure that Sophie would fail. She watched him warily, trying to figure out a plan. Spells obviously weren't working, but she had to do SOMETHING...

In the background, she could hear Heather trying a spell on the shadows. That was her plan? The shadows had already proved that spells couldn't work. Sophie squashed down her frustration with Heather as she tried to focus on Facilier. But then, she heard a splash! She turned her head; Heather was gone. What happened?! Did the shadows drown Heather?! Sophie yelped and turned to run to the bridge's edge, but suddenly, it was as if her feet were glued to the ground.

"Why are you wasting your time worrying about that girl? You don't need her. She's nothing compared to you," Facilier's smooth voice whispered in her ear. She struggled to run as he sidled closer to her, but she couldn't move. "What did you do to her? What are you going to do to me? Merlin won't stand for this, you know."

"Merlin? He's nothing but the dirt under my shoes. He doesn't have power. Not like my friends from the other side, not like me. And you... you have potential. If you teamed up with me, that is," Facilier chucked darkly.

"Team up with you? Are you crazy? I'd never team up with YOU! You're a villain! Bad news! Evil! Why would I..." Sophie's indignant voice faded away and she put a hand to her head. She was feeling a little dizzy. The scenery around her faded, leaving her in darkness, until all she could see were Facilier's hypnotizing eyes, watching her... and laughing.


End file.
